Alpha Drones, Invid Broadcast Towers and Reflex Point

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

Been thinking about the fact that in The Secret Route Maxwell is shown to be sitting in front what looks to be something a lot like a modern drone pilot's station. In Ghost Town, Scott states they have to take out the Invid Broadcast Towers (which apparently block FTL-comm and make no mistake he says the towers, plural) because they're holding up the invasion plans. Now in Symphony of Light the REF space Veritech fighters seems to overwhelmingly be Shadow Drones, which are stealth-versions of the same drones Maxwell has in The Secret Route.

So, what do these have to do with one another? If the Broadcast Towers block FTL (or maybe just regular radio) transmissions, the REF would potentially be crippled in their attack on Reflex Point by removing the human element (drone pilot operators) from their forces. Few of their mecha space-side appear to be piloted by humans. Now, we do know the UEG had AI drone mecha since the 1st Robotech War (QF-3000E) which got further development during the 2nd (GMP Golem Security Bot). However, even a good AI drone is not going to necessarily be better than a human operated vehicle. The problem is that pilots who are killed in action are hard to replace, whereas drone pilots should potentially be safe behind the lines. Sure, their mecha may be trashed, but that can be replaced far more easily thanks to the multiple factory satellites in the REF's arsenal.

Now, if the REF Civil War that is implied in Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles takes place, the REF might have been forced to turn to drones in large numbers because of the lack of qualified pilots who were either killed or are simply too inexperienced to safely deploy to retake the Earth. I think that there may have been a large contingent of Drone Pilots at Moon Base Luna, ALuCE-01, Space Station Liberty and elsewhere who were in control (for the most part) of the Shadow Drones deployed in Symphony of Light.

[drewkitty ~..~]

One of the fan things I did (ages before 2nd ed) was to upgrade the Ghost Drones in the Macross book. Giving them lasers (or some sort of other Energy weapons) to replace the auto-cannon the Ghosts were equipped with.
Since they were autonomous they would be first out last in if fighters needed to be deployed during Fold cool downs.

Another thing just came to me that to get the same effect the UEEF could of just manufactured a whole bunch of Zent Fighter pods and install a autonomous fighter AI. So the only thing needing to be developed would be the AI programing and computer core.

[Lt Gargoyle]

so would the Invid towers hinder the built in IAs?

I could see and love the idea of the drones as the first out, last in. I am kinda surprised no one in the crumbled military on earth did not attempt to build them for the resistance.

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

so would the Invid towers hinder the built in IAs?

Probably not. I would think the AI would be there to take over when the drone pilot loses contact. However, clearing the broadcast towers means that the drone operators can pilot the mecha in question without interference. I would assume that the drones that entered Reflex Point were under the command of the Shadow Fighters in Squadron 279 and the AI's would "follow" the squadron pilots.

I could see and love the idea of the drones as the first out, last in.

Would definitely make sense....

I am kinda surprised no one in the crumbled military on earth did not attempt to build them for the resistance.

Yea, I kinda get the feeling that Maxwell's were rare on Occupied Earth. However, I could see the REF in deep space using them extensively in their war against The Regent....

[Chronicler]

Could be that Maxwell's drones are the only intact ones on earth. The others might be around but could have been trashed with the resistance using them with no way to repair major damage.

Mechanic: well this one is toast.

Resistance pilot: you can't fix it? But we have the parts from other alphas!

Mechanic: yeah but ask yourself this: do you see a shop or the tools to repair sheared off armor?

[ShadowLogan]

Probably not. I would think the AI would be there to take over when the drone pilot loses contact. However, clearing the broadcast towers means that the drone operators can pilot the mecha in question without interference. I would assume that the drones that entered Reflex Point were under the command of the Shadow Fighters in Squadron 279 and the AI's would "follow" the squadron pilots.

If the Invid Broadcast towers are able to effect communications, then it is possible they can effect the AI either directly or indirectly as a form of electronic attack:
-The AI unlike a human pilot will be even more reliant upon their sensors since they don't have the independent sensors (your sense of balance, your eyesight)
-Given Radar uses radio waves, the drones AI will lose one sensor system potentially if it is jammed. It could also potentially be burned out (causing additional damage)
-Communication links can also be used as an attack vector
-optical sensors can be disrupted/jammed (I'm just listing it as possible, not that the broadcast towers actually did/can-do it)
-broadcast towers could be emitting other signals (gravity, microwave, etc) that make an approach difficult than an organic pilot can counter but an AI can not, or even in general

Though I have to wonder why the UEEF needs the people on the ground to take out the towers. They should have access to technology and techniques that should allow them to attack the towers from space (either beam cannon or improvised projectiles).

am kinda surprised no one in the crumbled military on earth did not attempt to build them for the resistance.

Probably a lack of technical expertise and available material.

In "Metamorphosis" episode the Invid can "see" the radio emissions from Scott's handheld controller for the two remote PT boats and trace it back. If that is the case for drones then, it probably is the case for drone earlier. Maxwell might have used their onboard auto-pilots to fly a route, instead of personal directing them to avoid detection if he knew about the capability. If that is the case then, you would need an AI onboard and an AI is going to require lots of programming to develop, which probably means a specialist(s) with the necessary skills.