It would be interesting to get a breakdown of what goes into something like the MQ-9, given they were introduced back in 2007 I wonder how difficult it would be to spin up a replacement using more COTS tech to lower the price and lead time for new builds.
I presume a lot goes into the satellite comms system, dealing with jamming, and certifying anything that flies.
In my complete ignorance I would presume a prop-driven unmanned aircraft built for loitering and dropping farily common ordnance with a quality optical package should be something that a bunch of defence companies could roll out quickly for the pentagon?
Would you consider using cache storage for enabling offline capabilities? Maybe I am in the minority but I usually go to organic maps for offline usage.
This is my regular hiking and cycling map, fantastic for offline use as well!
Edit: didn’t know about the ads / proprietary server issues. I guess this is the only sort of place to find out unless users are browsing the GitHub repo.
QGIS for ArcMap/ArcGIS
Geoserver for their REST based servers (ArcGIS Enterprise).
GRASS and GDAL do the leg work of much processing found in the spatial toolboxes and such.
However those tools do not have the polish that ESRI kit does, but at leas you’re not paying the licensing!
Those shaped charges weren’t envisioned coming from directly above, especially precisely dropped on the engine or on hatches, hence the drones are hitting spots with little to no armour compared to the front and sides.
To be devils advocate here we also have to promote healthy eating, getting screened for cancer, or smoking PSAs. Just because something might be classified as "superior" doesn't mean that it will always self promote or be accessible.
That's not exactly how it works. The satellite operator will be taking paid orders to scan over specific areas of the earth, about 4km in width or so.
So you have to have a pretty good idea where the carrier is, and then you get an image delivered with some latency as the satellite will need to pass over a ground station that downlinks the data.
So it isn't free (although umbra has a CC BY 4.0 license for their data, much more permissive than other providers. Nor is it easy to search huge amounts of the ocean for the carrier.
What most entities probably do is tip and cue, which is use a sensor with coarser resolution to get an approximate location and then use a sensor with finer resolution to look closer.
This has been brought up by a collective, in response to Ubisoft removing an online-only racing game from players libraries after purchase when they shut it down.
From my understanding it comes from a law passed that allows unlimited access by state intelligence services in China to any firms customer data.
"The most controversial sections of the law include Article 7 which potentially compels businesses registered or operating in the People's Republic of China to hand over information to Chinese intelligence agencies such as the MSS and to conceal the fact that they do so." [1]
I have found ground.news [1] decent, it limits the AI to creating quick summaries and assessing which side of the political spectrum news articles and organisations fall. The rest is up to the reader.
Murnau is a beautiful town with great views of the alps, reachable via train, and there is a great resteraunt near protected wetlands I can recccommend - https://maps.app.goo.gl/m9317uf5j7qKw8ML6
If you're into snowsports then now is a great time to get into the mountains and rent some gear to have a fun day. For hiking it is probably better to wait for the snow to thaw and then do a hut to hut treck if you can.
As a note, I do not reccommend going to see the Disneyland Castle, a.k.a. Neuschwanstein. It'll involve lots of crowds, a rushed tour, and a mediocre experience overall.
likewise, learning to sail as a kid and having to go around these large partially submerged objects just kicked off some irrational fear in me (and stil does today, though to a lesser degree).