[dtwest]

When battleships and tanks are the weapon, manufacturing capacity powers the war machine. Perhaps drones usher in a new dynamic in that regard too. Maybe it's not how many drones you produce but how well programmed they are, what sensor or communication technology they use, etc.

[_carbyau_]

Fit-for-purpose quality(including design, construction, tech) vs efficiency of production(cost) has always been a factor for the battlefield since forever. Iron vs bronze vs wood.

In modern times, software already runs a lot of tanks/missiles/planes/ships/communications etc.

As I see it the single biggest new factor is that "drone enabling software" significantly reworks hardware design parameters and thus affects manufacturing capacity.

For example, in a plane, the drone technology allows removal of a lot of weight along with "human onboard" red tape safety factors while enlarging G force parameters. It has added other factors for control and operation. But on the whole it is deemed a quite significant win it seems.

Drone on drone warfare leads to thinking about "software exploits" but on the battlefield it is always about exploits. Historically see spitfires and their limited ability to dive being exploited by the opposition but then being hardware "patched".

edit: conciseness