Small loitering munitions with about 150 miles of range and a few hours of endurance have useful opportunities where a ship's route and timing are known. Finding a fleet hundreds of nautical miles offshore is a different demand. In a hypothetical Taiwan operation, a force offshore from Taiwan would be farther still from a mainland Chinese launcher. For a reusable aircraft, the range example budgets roughly 500 nautical miles for the outward and return legs before any loitering. Indirect routing also costs range but helps conceal the launch ship's position. These demands help explain the difficult long-range requirements placed on American carrier-drone development.
Chapter · 33:56-36:05
Ocean distance changes the loitering-munition problem
A weapon with impressive littoral range may still lack the endurance to search for a moving fleet hundreds of nautical miles offshore and return without revealing its launcher.