In a recent exercise, the U.S. Navy used a swarm of drones to destroy a surface ship for the first time. Citing U.S. popular news, New Headquarter said the U.S. Navy’s move was a signal to China that it is developing so-called “anti-access/area denial defenses” – layered missile and radar systems to deny U.S. aircraft and warships access to the South China Sea. The report said the U.S. Navy’s move is a signal to China that it is developing so-called “anti-access/area denial defenses” – layered missile and radar systems to keep U.S. aircraft and warships out of the South China Sea.
According to the report, the U.S. military drills showed off its muscles by destroying ships for the first time with a swarm of drones. The drone swarm’s destruction of the ship was conducted last month during the Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem 21 (UxS IBP 21) exercise off the coast of California. The target destroyed by the drone swarm was identified by an unmanned vessel and targeted by the same enemy ship against which the guided missile destroyer USS John Finn fired its SM-6 anti-ship missile.
Rear Adm. Jim Aiken, the exercise’s technical manager, said in a news release, “The goal of this exercise is to evaluate these unmanned systems and how they actually work with manned systems.” Recent exercises, particularly the “swarm” attack, show that the United States is preparing a response. Unmanned systems allow for military action without risking the lives of soldiers or the risk of escalating casualties. Unlike missiles, “swarm” attacks are scalable and can be escalated to any level of conflict.
The size, type or number of drone swarms reportedly participating in the exercise are unknown. However, much of the Navy’s previous work has involved Raytheon’s Coyote UAS, a 13-pound tube drone with five-foot ejector wings that now comes standard with swarming capabilities. The Coyote can carry a variety of payloads, including electronic warfare devices or explodable warheads. The Navy’s LOCUST program (Low Cost UAS Swarm Technology) has previously demonstrated swarms of up to 50 Coyote drones to coordinate their attacks.
The tactic is to overwhelm an adversary’s defenses by inflicting more attacks than it can handle, according to the report. Low cost is a key feature, and LOCUST’s idea is that the entire “swarm” will cost less than a conventional missile. Smaller warheads could shoot down radars and other critical weapons systems, leaving the larger targets to the larger weapons. The tactical concept is that by delivering multiple precision strikes on vulnerable points, such “swarms” may also inflict more serious damage on the adversary.
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