>>15578
iran, venezuela, or russia could use this to destroy oil shipping for their rivals, driving up oil/gas prices

any nation that wants to fuck other nations that depend on global shipping supply chains could do this and target container ships. i don't know how many container ships there are, but just targeting the biggest one and working your way down the list would crippled the USA, China, probably Canada too.

any smaller island nation would be fucked.

terrorists could use it to destroy civilian targets like cruise ships and fishing vessels.

this could literally end force projection for naval powers like the USA for a generation or longer.

>>15578
only issues i can think of are below.

1. positioning without giving yourself away.

you need an alternative to US owned GPS satellite systems.

possible alternative is to use machine learning to make something that can navigate with just a compass, the sun, the moon, positions of the stars, reliable calendar/clock apps, and various tables for star positions and other shit i don't know about.

above might not work in fog, but then again there are probably cameras that can see through it with IR, UV, microwave radiation, or something else.

2. power source.

need a shitload of high capacity batteries, or solar panels. but then you need to stay above water for a while during the day, which is very risky.

maybe russia could put bits of radioactive isotopes in them for power lol, wouldn't put it past them.

3. transportation. also related to number 2 as "outsourcing" it to another craft reduces power requirements.

as i said above, you could submerge them and then surreptitiously tow them closer to their targets. with multiple craft picking them up and dropping them off, you have a relay race of sorts.

if you have knowledge of currents, you could float them close to the targets, which also saves fuel.

4. sigint radio detection and jamming could fuck shit up.

either use a long antenna that floats behind the drone for several thousand feet, or have a an AI controlled kill mode that seeks out the nearest ship-shaped object and closes with it.

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this would be especially effective against navies staffed by incompetents, like that of the USA.

i'm fucking shocked that no nations are doing this, given the maturity of drone tech, electric motors, batteries, and semi-/submersibles.

china could easily sink every us navy ship within 5000 miles with a bit of planning and elbow grease to get the drones close to us navy ports.

i feel like the 2020s are gonna be a reality check for the us govt.

>>15580
something else: could you create decoy drones/buoys to confuse infrared, radar (radio), sonar, visible light, ultraviolet, and microwave detection?

which of these would be easiest to do?

is there any way to do this passively, by using something which reflects a signal back at the source, or reflecting it in such a way that it appears to be larger?

is it possible to flood the detection mechanisms of ships and planes so they waste resources attacking decoys, and can't attack targets?

how could this be used to confuse drone attacks on vehicles, people, and buildings?