Quote Originally Posted by Ron Humphrey View Post
Long and short
Is it too "simplistic" to say that the key strength in swarming might be found in its ability to recognize and act on any vacuum afforded in a given path
I believe it to be accurate at any rate. However, militarily, problems arise in several areas:

- Recognizing. The really big one...

- Getting the massive numbers available to a swarm of bees is problematical; add getting most much less all the actors in a swarm of humans, unlike bees, to do the correct thing at the right time...

- Rocks are tough and durable but they are also static and rarely react to, evade, withdraw temporarily or counterattack the water that erodes them over considerable time -- time which may not be available to a military force...

That's not to say that swarms won't work, just that the fates must be kind and the reliability of effective action is unlikely to be adequate to satisfy most commanders or politicians -- the human factor (on the part of the Swarmers, the Swarmees and their respective bosses... ).