> I imagine the slower speed is a closer fit to combat drones
A lot of comments are trying to draw connections to combat drones, but drone racing like this has been a hobby thing for a long time. The capabilities of the drones are set to have an even playing field, not to match combat drones or anything.
These aren't meant to have any parallels to combat drones, drones that fly long distances, or drones that carry payloads.
It's really just a special-purpose hobby thing for flying through a series of gates very quickly. Flight time measured in a couple minutes, no provisions for carrying weight.
We all understand that. People are simply observing that there an obvious path from this technology demonstrator to something similar in the battlefield.
I'm afraid not. RC/FPV is already a niche hobby, and media coverage is universally negative. No wonder laypeople mostly think of kamikaze drones when they see something like this.
A lot of comments are trying to draw connections to combat drones, but drone racing like this has been a hobby thing for a long time. The capabilities of the drones are set to have an even playing field, not to match combat drones or anything.
These aren't meant to have any parallels to combat drones, drones that fly long distances, or drones that carry payloads.
It's really just a special-purpose hobby thing for flying through a series of gates very quickly. Flight time measured in a couple minutes, no provisions for carrying weight.