By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The Chinese military is surging forward into new areas of drone defense as speed, range, lethality and attack technologies central to small drones continues to improve at a staggering pace. Much like the Pentagon and the US services, the People’s Liberation Army is fast-tracking a number of offensive and defensive drone swarm technologies. Part of this is, quite simply, pushing the envelope to enterprise and innovate successful new methods of destroying or countering drone swarms.
The PLA is now developing an 11-Barrel Air Defense System called the LD-300 designed to intercept drones, cruise missiles, artillery and other low-flying threats. The weapon is a high-volume, high-speed “area” weapon capable of blanketing target areas with 12,000 rounds per minute with a 30mm Gatling Gun. An essay in SOFX.com says the system operates with a range of 15 kilometers, integrated radar and electro-optical sensors for all weather operations.
In terms of combat application and concepts of operation, the new PLA LD-300 is quite similar to the US C-RAM system which uses a Phalanx area gun to blanket threat areas with hundreds of projectiles per minute. However, the SOFX essay says the Chinese LD 3000’s 30mm ammunition provides greater destructive power and range than the US Phalanx. “While its primary role is to counter drones and missiles, the system could also address threats like loitering munitions and mortar shells. The LD-3000 may be adopted by China’s military or offered for export, targeting regions where drone warfare is a growing concern,” SOFX states.
