Fiber optic FPV kamikaze drone range extender idea:
Use two drones, A and B. Drone A is a regular FPV kamikaze drone powered by a battery and steered by a fiber optic cable.
Drone B is a similar drone except swap out the explosive payload for a large spool of fiber and an extra battery. Plus a few-meter-long charging cable. Drone A connects its own fiber optic to drone B, which connects its fiber optic to the operator. Drone B also connects it charging cable to drone A, so that drone AI can fly using the extra battery on drone B.
So, both drones fly in close formation (still connected) as far as possible, then detach the charging cable and drone A flies on to the target whilst drone B lands and waits.
Then, after Drone A has blown up, Drone B flies back to base, to be reused later. (Alternatively it can just be expended, in which case the range would be even greater.)
From the perspective of Drone A, it’s as if it was launched closer to the target by Drone B rather than by the actual human operator. So the range extention we get from this technique is basically the distance that Drone A+B can fly together whilst powered by Drone B. Getting rid of the payload should approximately allow for a doubling of the battery capacity of Drone B, but on the other hand, Drone B still needs to fly home afterwards. So I’m thinking Drone B’s range will be half the range of a normal kamikaze drone—it’s as if it flew to its target and then flew back.
So basically this trick adds 50% to the range of your kamikaze drones, at some extra cost and hassle (but much less than a 2x factor, since you are reusing the B drones. If you expend the B drones, it approximately doubles range whilst also doubling costs.)
I think so? Because you can reuse Drone B. I agree that if your plan is to expend Drone B, then maybe you should just have one bigger drone instead of two smaller drones.
Fiber optic FPV kamikaze drone range extender idea:
Use two drones, A and B.
Drone A is a regular FPV kamikaze drone powered by a battery and steered by a fiber optic cable.
Drone B is a similar drone except swap out the explosive payload for a large spool of fiber and an extra battery. Plus a few-meter-long charging cable. Drone A connects its own fiber optic to drone B, which connects its fiber optic to the operator. Drone B also connects it charging cable to drone A, so that drone AI can fly using the extra battery on drone B.
So, both drones fly in close formation (still connected) as far as possible, then detach the charging cable and drone A flies on to the target whilst drone B lands and waits.
Then, after Drone A has blown up, Drone B flies back to base, to be reused later. (Alternatively it can just be expended, in which case the range would be even greater.)
From the perspective of Drone A, it’s as if it was launched closer to the target by Drone B rather than by the actual human operator. So the range extention we get from this technique is basically the distance that Drone A+B can fly together whilst powered by Drone B. Getting rid of the payload should approximately allow for a doubling of the battery capacity of Drone B, but on the other hand, Drone B still needs to fly home afterwards. So I’m thinking Drone B’s range will be half the range of a normal kamikaze drone—it’s as if it flew to its target and then flew back.
So basically this trick adds 50% to the range of your kamikaze drones, at some extra cost and hassle (but much less than a 2x factor, since you are reusing the B drones. If you expend the B drones, it approximately doubles range whilst also doubling costs.)
Is this better than upgrading drone A in some way, e.g. using a bigger battery and better motors?
I think so? Because you can reuse Drone B. I agree that if your plan is to expend Drone B, then maybe you should just have one bigger drone instead of two smaller drones.