BAE in the US has been awarded a contract worth a basic $43 million to continue research into these. The research is called Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology and goes by the name MAST. Currently these things fly only in labs. Give it time though.
Like much of Traveller and our current listed tech level the game is very out of date, think far more cyberpunk or 2020 as the next stage. With prototype though controlled prosthetics coming in cybernetic augmentation isn’t that far away either.
These drones are going to be very sneaky over short ranges and for those not expecting them very successful. For those aware of them and able to take counter measures they will be far less useful.
Sneaking into a cave complex in some third world country, mapping the tunnels and locating the target is well within capabilities. Getting past an active defence that is aware of and prepared for micro drones is a whole new area of warfare. Can my drones fight past your anti drone defence, can my micro drones sneak past your anti micro drone defences.
We are a lot closer to the whole 2020/cyberpunk/shadow run than many think. Science and technology is constantly changing. Medical technology, drones, surveillance tech, all are more advanced than common perceptions. Giving the deaf the ability to hear and the blind the ability to see are simply the first stages to improved hearing or sight.
From a Traveller RPG point of view, Imperial marines about to board a smuggler or blockade runner will force entry and release a can of micro drones to fly throughout the ship and find any traps or defenders. Each airtight bulkhead will be breached carefully to make a small hole allowing the micro drones into the next section.
For those of you who have watched the Transformers movies the second film has a scene towards the end where the annoying kids are hiding in an Arab building and a micro drone comes in to the building through a small hole. That is exactly what these things will do.
They are, once the technology matures, going to be very useful for a military concerned about limiting casualties. However they are going to be extremely useful for police and security services monitoring a civilian population who are unlikely to have the skill or technology to defend against them and these micro drones are far more useful over short distances. On those high law level worlds the secret police scatter them as they walk past a target building, the darkness and small size makes the micro drones all but invisible and they swarm the target building finding every gap and crack in the walls.
