College Student Receives $350,000 Government Drone in the Mail

[Cognisant]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...Receives-350-000-Government-Drone-in-the-Mail

UPS fucked up, fair enough.

But how the hell does a glorified RC plane cost $350,000?
Oh sure it's got great cameras, rare earth magnet motors, custom everything, the latest nano-tech lithium polymer batteries (or maybe a small combustion engine instead) an on-board computer, high gain RF transceiver and a little gold brick in there as well.

So at a very conservative estimate that's about $20,000 now what did the other $330,000 pay for?

 

[Decaf]

My guess is that, unlike RC planes, manufacturing tolerances for drones are much, much tighter, which means more failed product that has to be reworked to meet those tolerances. Plus they have to use more obscure and expensive materials to maintain flight characteristics in semi-extreme weather conditions, high accuracy GPS system, multi-band transceiver to prevent jamming, etc. Plus defense contractors pay their engineers really well to compensate for the morale cost of working for a glorified weapons dealer.

I'm curious if they have to harden the electronics or if they would just ground all drones in case of a thunder storm.

 

[Cognisant]

The military has access to GPS channels that civilians do not but that's infrastructure, with the right antenna a GPS under $500 is as accurate as it could possibly be for something UAV sized.

A 2.4ghz spread spectrum transceiver doesn't cost that much either and it's designed to resist jamming, specifically other pilots using the same frequency.

I dunno $20,000 is a hideously expensive drone, it boggles the mind to consider how much work would have to go into making one worth $50,000, I can't even begin to imagine how one could cost over $100,000 let alone over a quarter of a million dollars.

For that kind of money I'd expect it to be invisible to radar, IR, sonar, and just plain invisible.

 

[Decaf]

On the first two counts I suppose I agree. That's just what came to mind. However, RC planes are designed for clear mild weather, and I imagine drones need to be able to fly in January too.

 

[Cognisant]

That's not all that hard and weather is one of those things that'll fuck things up no matter how expensive they are, not to mention bullets, so it would seem that a cheaper drone would be better.

Come to think of it maybe the cost is because of insurance? That I'd believe

Or it's $350,000 for the entire shipment, that makes sense too.

 

[Red myst]

I think the media is just using that figure to sensationalize the story.
I would question where thy got that figure. While it may be true, it may not be the figure for the just the drone.
I have worked with AAI shadow UAV, and there is a lot more cost involved than just the drone. That cost seems like it is for a full system.

Here is some info on a similar drone with price breakdown.

Price/Cost: A full RQ-11 system with 3 UAVs, ground control station, video terminal and associated spares and other equipment has a price tag of about $300,000 (in 2012). The unit cost (just the aerial vehicle) is $34,000 (in 2012).

 

[Cognisant]

I could make a RQ-11 for under $200 easily and I'm not saying I'm special, anyone with the know-how to make a custom RC plane can do that.

The camera will cost more but no mere camera costs $33,800.

 

[Duxwing]

I could make a RQ-11 for under $200 easily and I'm not saying I'm special, anyone with the know-how to make a custom RC plane can do that.

Do it: you could make millions!

-Duxwing

 

[Red myst]

I could make a RQ-11 for under $200 easily and I'm not saying I'm special, anyone with the know-how to make a custom RC plane can do that.

The camera will cost more but no mere camera costs $33,800.

As a former RC hobbyist I can agree that there are much more economical options. But as a private company who has to be ISO9000 certified, the government bureaucracy, and the fact that they typically place orders in small quantities drives the cost up. Also they have a list of "approved" suppliers that the must buy from. Usually only products made in USA.
It is overpriced for what id does, but not necessarily because the manufacturer is overcharging, but because dealing with the government cost a lot.

Remember this...... "An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications"
I would have not believed it till I saw it for myself.

 

[walfin]

OMG it must've been so cool to be that kid.

These were no weapons dealers anyway; NOAA was sending the drone for use in a marine sanctuary.

BTW, NOAA Commander sounds like a really cool job for an INTP.

 

[Variform]

Everyone rips of the us government when they have the chance. What was this I heard... They ere selling stuff to the army in Iraq for outrageous prices. I forgot what it was. It is a war economy I guess.

 

[Reluctantly]

Let's say a shovel costs $10 for a non-government employee. Now take that same shovel and sell it to the government instead. Now it costs $100, if not more. But same shovel.

No joke.

 

[Red myst]

@variform and @reluctantly,
I am just trying to offer some insight here and not taking a side or stance on the the topic.

Before I worked for a company that dealt with the government, I thought everyone was ripping off the U.S. government. Things do cost more if sold to the government. My company also sells things for more to the government than a civilian. But not because we figure the government has deeper pockets.
If we take the example of the shovel, if the government were to buy a shovel from us, they will require certification of the metal the metal is made of, the metal will have to have a Rockwell hardness test done on it, they will require a certification of the wooden handle. They will require a test to determine the load the shovel can handle before breaking, they will require a test for corrosion resistance, they will require documentation of the calibration and certification of equipment used for testing the shovel. They will send a government auditor to inspect and sign off on all documentation, and will inspect random samples of the shovels to see that they are in compliance. They have required packaging that the shovels must be packed with. I could go on, but I expect I made my point. The shovel will be the same as the civilian version we also sell, but the certification process is expensive.
I very much dislike dealing with the government. So many of their procedures are unnecessary. They spend too much money worrying about getting ripped off. But they are not spending their own money, they are spending the tax payers money.

 

[Variform]

You think this is because the government creates safety/consumer laws and then feels compelled to strictly follow them themselves? And that they feel they cannot get away with any lesser standard of conduct?

 

[Red myst]

No..... You are speaking of two or more separate issues. They don't combine that way. But in a sense you have a bit of a point because I will say that if you have a government contract to provide a goods or services to the government, then you will be opening your doors to their bureaucracy. And it is easier for them to police your operations. So for instance, for the longest time, we were required to use zinc plated mil spec bolts in some assemblies. This has been replaced with cadmium plating by the government. They say zinc has been found to be a health hazard. So they have kind of a zero tolerance for zinc plating on goods they are buying. But for the most part, zinc plated fasteners are still pretty common to the general public. The cadmium plated hardware cost more, so this increases the cost of the product we sell to the government over what we would typically sell to the civilian population. We charge the government more because they asked for something that cost more. We are not putting a civilian customer at risk when we sell him a product that has been assembled with zinc plated hardware because the amount of zinc is minute.

 

[Variform]

But cadmium is a heavy metal... worse than most any heavy metal.

 

[Red myst]

But cadmium is a heavy metal... worse than most any heavy metal.

Yep.... I mixed my metals up, so my example is flawed. Wish I could start over, but maybe you still are able to get the jest of what I am trying to convey.

 

[Variform]

Well, good that the us gov. is catching up to what the world already knew for a 12000 billion million years, that cadmium is extremely dangerous.

Eh wait. You worked with that?

 

[Red myst]

Well, good that the us gov. is catching up to what the world already knew for a 12000 billion million years, that cadmium is extremely dangerous.

Eh wait. You worked with that?

I've been working with aerospace fasteners and products since 1990. But I don't eat them!!!!