By Logan Williams, Warrior Editorial Fellow
US Navy ships in the Red Sea have demonstrated a mature, consistent and highly effective counter-drone system, informed by a series of layered defenses, countermeasures, interceptor weapons supported by robust, precise ISR. (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance)
This continues to become apparent, and yet these recent maritime drone attacks underscore the growing importance of counter-drone operations at Sea, as there are certain to be much more advanced attack drone threats capable of threatening US Navy ships in the future. Navy warships will need to be further protected from new generations of drone threats, as the Houthi-drones do not appear very accurate. The threat of drone swarm attacks upon US Navy warships would likely be much more sophisticated in the future. The reality of this threat is inspiring a new generation of counter-drone weaponry.
New Counter-Drone Innovations
Ship integrated counter-drone innovations could supplement the standard Bushmaster Mk-38 25mm auto-cannon, which is limited by its deficient mobility (with a maximum weapons station elevation of 40-degrees), and thus, ill-suited for any aerial defense task. By replacing this auto-cannon with a platform designed specifically for aerial defense, such as the German Rheinmetall Skyranger (which has a near-vertical maximum angle of elevation of 85-degrees), these air-defense vessels would be able to repurpose a standard, basic capability (all warships have auto-cannons) to respond to an emerging threat.
Additionally, many of these auto-cannons utilize programmable exploding shells which, as they near the drone target, release hundreds of small tungsten cylinders — not unlike a shotgun on steroids, firing bird-shot. The German model, which is mentioned only as a prominent example because alternatives may exist, fires a larger projectile than the Mk-38 (35mm or 30mm, versus a 25mm cartridge out of the Mk-38), at a significantly faster rate (1,000 – 1,200 rounds per minute compared to the Mk-38’s 168 rounds per minute). Auto-cannons are not perfect anti-drone weapons, as they can only target a single drone – or a tightly-formed cluster – at a time, and this range is limited to an approximate maximum of two miles, however, they could provide useful additional layers of defenses to the last-resort emergency Close-in Weapons System (CWIS).
As auto-cannons are never a warship’s primary weapon, least of all against drones, the U.S. Navy would need to equip this vessel with a number of increasingly high-tech solutions.
New Ship-Integrated Counter-Drone Weapons
A technology start-up in Colorado has produced a platform called “Savage,” capable of firing 64 lightweight and ultra-low cost missiles for countering a drone swarm. The missiles use a proprietary AI-enhanced targeting algorithm, paired with a video camera, to identify, track, and destroy drones. These 64 missiles have the capability to communicate with one another via radio, at a distance of approximately 100-meters, to coordinate targeting data.
A more expensive and complex, but also more robust strategy would be to deploy products that are designed as a sort-of cross between UAV and interceptor missile. Raytheon has already begun to supply 600 “Coyote,” radar-guided interceptors to the U.S. Army. These interceptors are tube-launched, much like a traditional surface-to-air missile, and can reach speeds of over 300-mph.
A relative newcomer to the defense industrial space, Anduril, a company whose radical innovation conquers scientific frontiers and defies the imagination, has produced their own interceptor vehicle, called the “Road Runner.” The name of Anduril’s interceptor is no coincidence, it was designated in jest, a recognition of the friendly competition which exists between Anduril – a company focused on revolutionizing the outdated defense industry – and Raytheon, which is the pinnacle of that old defense industry.
The “Road Runner” interceptor does not require a launcher, because it is powered by two miniaturized turbojet engines, and can reach speeds of over 700 miles per hour (high subsonic, nearly supersonic, and speeds more than twice the maximum capability of Raytheon’s “Coyote”). The Road Runner is able to launch from a container – called the “Nest” – about the size of a mini-fridge or a large suitcase, and its twin turbo-jet engines enable the drone to take-off and land vertically (VTOL). By capitalizing upon the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, Anduril enabled increased interoperability between interceptors, and improved targeting. Truly, Anduril’s device is the best of its class, far outpacing the capability of Raytheon’s model — once again, just like the cartoons, the “Coyote” fails to catch its arch-nemesis.
Lasers for Counter Drone Missions
Additionally, the U.S. Navy has demonstrated the capability of laser weapons to destroy drones, in an at-sea test conducted in 2020. Many defense companies have a functioning prototype of a laser weapon, or are presently working on a design, however, Raytheon’s High-Energy Laser Weapons System is already fielded by the U.S. military in a limited capacity and has proven its functionality by attaining 400 kills. Like other weapons discussed within this article, however, lasers are only capable of targeting and destroying one drone at a time, and thus, their efficacy is limited by the number of lasers a vessel can deploy or the speed at which the laser can destroy an incoming drone.
Finally, the Pentagon has been heavily funding microwave weapons which utilize radiation to disrupt drones’ guidance systems. Examples of this technology are already fielded by the U.S. military, one model is designed by Raytheon, and another, the Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) and its successor, Mjolnir, are designed by BAE Syst
ems in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory. The primary advantage offered by these microwave weapons is their efficacy against drone swarms, since every other weapon described within this article is capable of targeting one drone at a time — even Savage, although it can launch 64 missiles, is only capable of a “one missile, one drone” targeting model. Depending upon the formation of hostile drones (how close they fly to one another), microwave weapons can eliminate dozens of drones, simultaneously.
Producing a vessel equipped with each of these capabilities, or viable alternatives, will create a specialized high-tech powerhouse designed specifically to excel at missions exactly like the challenge posed by the Houthi terrorist threat. Obviously, some impediments remain to the development of a new warship. A primary difficulty is that many of the aforementioned weapons systems were originally designed for land-basing and use; while these weapons can likely be adapted for ship-based deployment, it would take time, as well as significant investment. Additionally, some issues are likely to develop from attempting to integrate this entire array of new, complex weapons platforms into the existing Aegis Combat/Total Weapons Control System.
It is also worth noting that specialization doesn’t necessarily need to mean that a weapon becomes an impractical gimmick. Just as the E/A-18 “Growler” carries the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the AGM-88 HARM missiles for self-defense, so too will a high-tech naval vessel require dependable, traditional armaments for that purpose. Just as these notional vessels would require the same CWIS defense system as any other warship in the U.S. Navy’s fleet, it would also likely be equipped with the RIM-116 SeaRAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) system, the RGM-184A Naval Strike Missile, and a limited number of Mk-41 vertical launch system (VLS) cells – perhaps two eight-cell modules – for use with the Standard Missile (SM)-2 and RIM-162 SeaSparrow Missile, providing the vessel with a robust self-defense capability. As a side note, it isn’t difficult to imagine that the Anduril “Road Runner,” with its turbojet engines and VTOL capability, might be adapted (with some inventiveness and ingenuity) to launch from a similar cell-module to the Mk-41, or perhaps from the Mk-41, itself.
Logan Williams currently studies at the University of Connecticut. He is an International Affairs Researcher; Work Published in Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals, Such As: Geopolitics Magazine, Modern Diplomacy, Tufts University’s The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Democracy Paradox, Diario Las Américas, International Affairs Forum, Fair Observer, History Is Now Magazine, UNC at Chapel Hill’s American Diplomacy, The Center for Military Modernization’s Warrior Maven Magazine
