The Pentagon starts to choose its "Replicator" drone candidates in mid-December.

    The Pentagon starts to choose its "Replicator" drone candidates in mid-December. 

Drones have shown their abilities in Ukraine. That thing means that unmanned drones become more common tools on battlefields. In the Ukraine war things like Pizza-delivery drones transport grenade-launcher ammunition and hand-grenades to targets. And then those systems drop their ammunition to targets. Also, drones can point targets to artillery and other weapon systems. 

The main difference between kamikaze-drone and traditional cruise missiles is that Kamikaze-drone can make recon missions, and when its fuel ends, that thing can dive against targets. And if a small drone hits things like an ammunition dump, it can make huge destructions. 

They can used as recon missions like normal scout helicopters. And the thing is that they can be bought from anywhere. That means terrorists and criminals are interested in drones. Connecting things like pistols or dynamite to them is not very difficult. That kind of drone can be a big threat to national security. They can be used to harm power lines and aircraft. Drones are excellent tools for search observers and things that illegals want to steal. 

There are three lines of drones. 

*Simple and cheap systems that can be used as huge swarms. Those swarms can be used to force the enemy to shoot their AA artillery ammunition storages to the skies. 

*Complicated and expensive systems that can perform almost the same missions as manned aircraft and other systems. 

*Drone swarms. The system's idea is that drones operate as groups. The single drone has limited computing and sensor capacity. But drones that have limited sensor and computing capacity can operate as swarms. Those systems might use different types of sensors like IR and visible light CCD cameras, laser microphones/target designators, and radio systems that can triangularly measure the positions of targets. 

Drone swarms can cover large areas. And that makes them powerful tools. Those drone swarms can also travel to the attacking aircraft's route. And if that aircraft travels through a drone swarm it can get drones in its engines. 

Each swarm member might have different sensors. And they make a fusion for that data. And those drone swarms transmit data that they collect to the controllers. Drone swarms are the ultimate version of a non-centralized morphing system. Jamming those drone swarms is not as easy as people think. 

Drones can use regular radio- and maser communications, and optical laser communication for sharing information. And that makes them nasty tools. The EMP weapons can drop those drones from the skies by damaging their electronics. 

Drones can be deadly even if they are cheap. If the drone is equipped with a radio-aiming system. There some agent or other drone takes a radio transmitter to target. That increases even cheap drone's ability to operate. The ECM can cut that radio signal but the operators must know the right frequency. Those ECM/EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) weapons can installed in drones. 

The complicated drones can be the counteractors against other drones. They are like small aircraft. Some of them are aircraft-size systems that can used against hard targets. The stealth drones can search and destroy enemy radars and AA missile sites. Those drones also can use microwaves or radio systems to jam communication between other drones. And especially drone swarms' internal communication must be jammed because that makes them operate independently. But those systems are hard to jam.

https://interestingengineering.com/military/pentagon-replicator-drones-december