i think it's done because that's what they had on hand. engineer would recognize that shell is built to survive getting shot out of barrel, while drone dropped something doesn't have such constraint. this would allow for lighter shell in the same volume, or bigger and more destructive package with the same mass

or maybe some of shells were defective, idk

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yep they just have a lot of shells on hand and it’s obviously more work to safely dissect it than put a bigger drone on top.

Optimizing drone payloads is a problem to solve when you’re in peacetime and have years to rework the supply chain.

[–] rain_enjoyer@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Smaller payloads are often custom made, it's not a stretch to make a bigger one also especially considering that it's a thing that already happened previously. I've seen video of Ukrainians melting TNT out of mortar shells (it can be done with hot water) to put it in lighter, custom made drone payloads, surely there's a supply of TM-62s or loose explosives to use in this way

otoh sounds like a good thing, because it suggests that 155mm projectile supply is adequate