Quote: "What is different about these drones?
This latest attack signifies a big jump in abilities as the drone flew more than 800km into Saudi Arabia to successfully attack its target. The drone was guided using satellite technology, as beyond a certain range, drones need a satellite data link for information to be sent back to the pilot.
Satellites technically allow drones to be flown from halfway around the world, as many military drones are, but they also need a second pilot station with line-of-sight access to take off and land. The is due to the delay in satellite communications - albeit minor - which causes delays that can be fatal for a drone coming in to land. The Iranians and Houthis have no known communications satellites and would need to rely on commercially available satellite space. All this means that imagery analysts, communications experts, uplink engineers, two-pilot crews, armourers and mechanics all need to work in unison for an attack to succeed.
This implies increasingly sophisticated levels of training.
On the subject of increasing drone sophistication, especially by Houthis trained by Iran, what do the honourable members feel about this article?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...055550113.html
(PS Sorry about the text size at the beginning but I cannot see any option in the editing bar.)