IMO inefficient
French Navy conducted exercise even with the shotguns.
The French Navy conducted its first ever at-sea anti-drone exercise last week, off the coast of Brest naval base, in the Atlantic.
www.navalnews.com
Comments by Tayfun Ozberk, former Turkish Navy surface warfare officer
Unmanned vehicles are participating in naval warfare year after year. While defense contractors in many countries are working to develop new types of unmanned ships, navies are working to integrate unmanned systems into their fleets under the concept of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T).
Meanwhile, the effectiveness of the UAV and USVs in the Russo-Ukrainian war proved the paradigm shift in Naval Warfare. The use of UAVs for surveillance and assault missions, as well as suicide USV assaults of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Russian warships showed that these small but effective vessels increased the complexity of Naval Warfare.
In this case, developing countermeasures is paramount. Engaging in such small and swift with classical weapons with non-fragmented rounds doesn’t offer a high probability to destroy the target. Using weapons with fragmented rounds increases the hit probability.
On the other hand, such weapons should be the last measure against such drones, just like close in weapon systems. To decrease the risk against valuable combatants, UAV/USV assaults should be neutralized before the suicide drone enters the vital area of the warship. The importance of arming warships with small guided missiles, such as Longbow Hellfire or L-UMTAS, has increased.
Though guided missiles are effective, it’s still not clear whether they would be enough to repel swarm attacks including dozens of drones. Therefore, adding laser weapons to the warships or flotilla’s layered defense system seems to be a subject in the near future.
The most recent Ukraine war showed that drones are relatively cheap and effective, without developing solid measures and CONOPS, the warships wouldn’t be safe at sea. Even the strongest ones.
The United States Central Command has reported the emergence of USV and UUV maritime threats from the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
cuashub.com
