r/NonCredibleDefense

Some big container ships are 20k+ TEU (meaning 10k+ standard 40ft containers).

Take one of those. Each container holds 5-6 Shahed style drones. Internet claims range is at least 600mi.

Figure out some way of jettisoning empty containers.

Park the ship 500mi off of some coastal city. Fly them in low, stay under the radar as long as you can. 100mph cruise means you have 5 hours until certain detection, potentially less depending on luck. Hope to deplete your magazine before any counterattack.

Literally tens of thousands of drones from a single ship could wipe out/deplete any non-EW based countermeasures and devastate any metropolitan area. Coordinate a few locations at once for best luck.

Obviously this would have to be a surprise attack to start a war, once the war is active good luck getting close enough. It won't be cheap, it'd be one time use, but it could use "conventional" weapons to deliver thermonuclear level destruction.

Do we know of any countries trying to build ships like this?

We Are The Mighty profiles retired Sgt. Maj. Mike Vining through the smaller personal details behind a much larger military résumé: Vietnam EOD work, Delta Force, Operation Eagle Claw, and later life outside uniform. The article uses the “sardines he never ate” story to humanize someone usually presented as a meme or legend.

Vining served as an explosive ordnance disposal specialist in Vietnam, where he recalled multiple near-death moments, including being left behind at an abandoned Special Forces camp and helping destroy the massive “Rock Island East” enemy weapons cache in Cambodia.

The profile also connects Vining to Delta Force’s early history. A related We Are The Mighty piece says he joined Delta in 1978 as an EOD specialist under Col. Charlie Beckwith, making him one of the unit’s original members.

The article’s strategic value is not just biography. It shows how specialized technical skills, especially EOD, became central to elite special operations as missions grew more complex and politically sensitive.

Vining’s post-service life, including mountaineering, historical writing, veteran community work, and distance from his internet fame, adds a useful contrast to modern military celebrity culture. The profile suggests that some of the most consequential operators may be least interested in mythmaking.

Do stories like Vining’s help preserve serious military history, or do meme-driven portrayals risk flattening complex service into legend?

No I am no expert and I have a few questions about what would be feasible/sustainable and what would not be.

Taking random aircrafts from 80 years ago out of museums wouldn't be either tho.

Key points:

• props over jet engine cause it is basically cheaper to operate right?
• turret over front mounted guns cause drones are very slow and a turret makes it very easier to approach them than having to position the aircraft itself everytime to take a shot
• drones are very fragile, the armament would then be some system that shoots shotgun shells instead of solid mg rounds, like a dual shotgun mg would be ideal. I don't know if such a system exists but maybe some 20mm autocannon could be fitted with shrapnel shells?
• how difficult would be creating a 2 seater super tucano variant with a rear turret on the second pilot spot? And how long the development of something like that would be?