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Comment by bayindirh

11 hours ago

Yet these cheap and effective weapons failed to protect high value targets, esp. radars.

That's a question of deployment, not capability. They've been used widely in the Middle East against drones since the 2010s with considerable success.

  • Which system are you talking about?

    • APKWS.

      The US took the old Vietnam-era unguided rocket pods (Hydra 70), of which they produce hundreds of thousands every year, and slapped a dirt-cheap guidance kit to the front of each rocket. Supposedly 90-95% effective. A bunch of countries are developing their own clones of the concept.

      A single F-16 can carry 42 missiles. They've been rapidly expanding the number of platforms they can attach these to.

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Yes a 99% success rate versus like 600 incoming still means some of them will get through.

Which is the same reason no level of military power is going to keep the Strait of Hormuz open (or at least, no level beyond a truly absurd one and even then - see the Kerch bridge in Crimea).