New Radar Counters Drone Swarm Attacks -Tracks 10,000 Targets at Once
The Pentagon and US military services are seeking to counter the fast-emerging and increasingly serious drone swarm attack threat
KRIS OSBORNMAY 29, 2024
By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The Pentagon and US military services are seeking to counter the fast-emerging and increasingly serious drone swarm attack threat presented by both sophisticated great power rivals and low-tech adversaries, with an urgency and fervor that cannot be underestimated.
The reasons for this are both clear and self-evident; the US Navy has not only been tracking and destroying groups of Houthi and Iranian-backed drones and cruise missiles in the Red Sea, but also preparing to counter larger and more sophisticated drone swarm attacks.
The intent with drone attacks is also clear, as low-tech, inexpensive “masses” of drone swarms can descend upon a ship, convoy, military installation or forward operating force to overwhelm countermeasures and simply present too many targets for even the most advanced interceptors or defenses to stop.
Weapons like CRAM (Counter Rocket, Artillery & Mortar) and ship-integrated CWIS (Close-In-Weapons-Systems on ship deck with radar and Phalanx), for example, have proven effective as “area” weapons able to blanket areas with defensive fire to “knock out” groups of drones. Also, ship-deck or ground fired weapons might be able to counter drone swarms to some degree with things like “proximity” fuses and other kinds of pointed “area” defenses. The other area of promise for drone swarm defense is likely EW, as advanced electronic “jammers” could potentially interfere with or destroy the electronic systems needed to guide groups of individual small drones. Electromagnetic signals could potentially cover an “area” or wide aperture to jam the guidance systems of large numbers of drones.
https://warriormaven.com/sea/new-radar-counters-drone-swarm-attacks-tracks-10000-targets-at-once
