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if it was not more effective than existing options, both sides would not be scaling production and deployment at an unparalleled rate



Both sides suffer from shell and ATGM shortage and inability to suppress/destroy air defences, which drives suboptimal adaptations. An FPV drone assembled in a garage from aliexpress components and a tesla battery [1] with a submunition extracted from a cluster shell [2] is more effective than a single old howitzer with 10 shells per 2km of frontline [3], but it's a pretty low bar.

The 10% estimate is not mine, it's from a legitimate expert who regularly goes to the frontline in Ukraine.

[1]: An amusing anecdote from that podcast: Tesla battery packs are a big source of batteries for FPV drones. The packs can be sourced for next to nothing from totaled Teslas, and individual cells are very reliable.

[2]: https://www.twz.com/ukrainians-are-cutting-open-u-s-cluster-...

[3]: https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/17/ukraine-frontline-ammo-...




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