US Navy looking for cheaper ways to shoot down enemy drones – The Naval Officers Association of Australia

DEFENSESCOOP.COM: Jon Harper

The (U.S.) Defense Innovation Unit is soliciting industry for less expensive “kinetic” weapons that the Navy could use to shoot down enemy drones.

The sea service has been busy taking out unmanned aerial systems and missiles launched by the Houthis at vessels in the Red Sea, a major global shipping route. While the Navy has been highly successful in its recent air defense missions, Pentagon officials are concerned about the so-called “cost exchange ratio” — where in some cases, multimillion-dollar missiles have been used to take out UAS that only cost a few thousand dollars to make. To help meet the increasing demand for counter-drone tools at a lower price point, the department is looking for new shipborne solutions.

The Arleigh Burke-class DDG USS Carney (DDG-64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct 19, 2023 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

“The U.S. is committed to protecting commercial maritime trade and, more importantly, service members conducting maritime operations in contested environments,” it added. “To support this goal, the U.S. Department of the Navy seeks a kinetic defeat solution for group 3+ UAS. The proposed solution must demonstrate a high probability of kinetic defeat on adversarial group 3+ UAS and be more cost effective than the current traditional air defense solutions being used against UAS and available to Naval operational commanders.” Note: In U.S. military parlance, the term “kinetic” generally refers to weapons that attack their targets by colliding with them or exploding near them, such as missiles or other projectiles. The term “non-kinetic” generally refers to alternative methods of engagement such as directed energy weapons and electronic warfare tools.

“The U.S. Navy intends to rapidly prototype and conduct a phased operational test and evaluation plan to validate the performance of one or more proposed shipborne kinetic defeat Counter UAS solutions. It is expected that solutions will be capable of expeditious worldwide deployment, integrated with a variety of naval platforms and must display the ability to be easily integrated into the existing sensors onboard a naval vessel,” the DIU solicitation states.

The service wants a counter-drone “effector” and launcher that can be integrated into its ships’ existing combat systems and ancillary support systems, receive radar tracks, have a terminal guidance capability integrated into the effector, and be reloadable at sea.

For this iteration of Counter (drones capability), DIU noted that it’s not interested in directed energy systems.

DE weapons, such as lasers and high-power microwaves, are often touted as having a lower cost-per-shot than kinetic systems. However, those types of capabilities aren’t as proven on the battlefield and they present unique technical and operational challenges compared to kinetic options.