Civilian ships may soon carry "flocks of strike drones" to counter the Yemeni Houthis and the Russians.
The German defense contractor Rheinmetall has developed a new weapon: a standard shipping container that stores 126 attack drones.
As the publication "USM" informs. this is reported by the Telegraph.
Other companies are also studying this concept, which can significantly affect the tactics of conducting naval battles. Although drones are not new, they are becoming the main means of performing various military tasks — from logistics to strikes. They are cheaper, which is important in the conditions of limited defense budgets of NATO countries.
Training to protect against UAV attacks lasted decades. NATO already has experience in countering “gangs” of Iran's drones in the Persian Gulf. However, defense against container-launched drones is a new challenge. Modern radars can handle 126 drones, but defense systems may lack missiles and bullets to shoot down UAVs.
Drones in containers will be difficult to detect, especially if they are in civilian ports. At the same time, such ships can launch many drones that jam systems and provide data for further strikes by anti-ship missiles. For example, this is how the Defense Forces of Ukraine sank the Russian flagship “Moscow” in the Black Sea.
If drones penetrate the defenses of an enemy ship, they probably won't sink the ship, but they don't need to. A single drone hitting, say, the Sampson radar of a Type 45 destroyer would disable that system and render the ship unable to perform its primary functions. From the point of view of combat operations, this can be as effective as sinking an enemy ship.
At the same time, technically nothing prevents installing such containers on "civilian" ship. A merchant ship that emits a “swarm” drones, can become a serious threat to the adversary at sea. If a ship suddenly changes course to approach enemy ships, this may be a sign of danger. Protection from “swarm” drones is difficult, but it encourages us to consider their use for our own offensive purposes.