David Hambling
Such incidents are likely to continue, and any future war is likely to involve even bigger waves of attack drones. As the DSEI Defence Exhibition & Trade Show opened in London yesterday, drone defense for Europe loomed large, with many anti-drone guns on display.
Armin Papperger, CEO of German arms maker Rheinmetall, says he is expecting an order from the German government worth several billion Euros for hundreds of Skyranger air defence guns. This huge bill is one of the reasons why governments have been slow to acquire urgently needed drone protection.
Meanwhile Ukraine is using weapons costing a hundred times less to bring down Shaheds, suggesting that there is something wrong with European defence procurement. Dr. Jack Watling of UK defence thinktank RUSI told me that European defence hardware is “pretty universally overpriced” – but the causes are complex and harder to tackle than you might think.
How Gepard Came Out Of Retirement To Rescue Ukraine
Existing missile-based air defenses struggle to cope with the threat of small drones. Pricey high-performance surface-to-air missiles like Patriot can easily tackle fast jets, helicopters and cruise missiles, but are only bought in small numbers. The U.S. only makes 650 PAC-3 Patriot missiles in a whole year, and Russia can launch more Shaheds than that on one night which would exhaust supplies immediately. Hence the renewed interest in old-school anti-aircraft guns with plenty of ammo.
Cruising at 120 mph and under 10,000 feet, Shaheds are individually easy to down. Stopping hundreds in one night is a challenge. Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns vehicles, made in Germany in the 1970s, have been notably successful at downing the drones. The tank-like Gepard has a turret with a pair of 35mm automatic cannon firing almost 20 rounds a second, guided by the Gepard’s own radar.
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