Although I have touted the idea of a self-launching boat that can hover itself betwixt land and sea, that's not where the current emphasis lies although I do continue as a paid-up member of the Vertical Flight Society.
Its most recent mag is genuinely sobering, reflecting as it does on the impact of the conflict in the Ukraine and the speed with which drones have supplanted practically all other mobile means of warfare: except artillery that can be relocated during the course of an advance.
WW1 effectively did for the cavalry, which would be replaced by mobile means in the shape of the tank and aircraft that dominated the largest battles during WW2.
Korea and Vietnam witnessed the utility of the helicopter gunship ~ an aerial tank ~ that secured victory in the Gulf War.
What Ukraine showed was tanks and helicopter gunships making impressive video footage on Day One, after which they were absent due less costly means of laying waste to them.
Offensive operations have also evolved from the miniaturisation of airframes, along with communication via miniature satellite and AI... which is capable of independent navigation and target acquisition through miniaturisation of chips largely stemming from smartphones.
What all this means in the US is that the DoD is taking a hatchet to programs that result in small numbers of units that are as expensive as they are sophisticated: and replacing them with drones on land, air and sea that can be manufactured in great number, in a short timeframe and at minimum cost in terms of cash and lives.
In a nutshell what the Defense Secretary requires is each element of the military ~ whether on land, sea or air ~ being capable of deploying drones in great number.
(Beside ditching tanks after a century or more of service... and phasing out gunships after some half of that.)
Meanwhile in Ukraine, a first-person-view version of WW1 continues unabated.
