Very cost effective solution for targeting inexpensive Drones with laser guided rockets. Yesterday India's ADANI DEFENCE signed a contract with THALES to locally produce these laser guided rockets to arm upcoming Attack helicopters of India, Hope Indian Navy will Adapt these system for their warships in future.

It’s Vampire for patrol boats. A laser guided rocket for targeting unmanned vehicles with a secondary ground attack, or in this case, anti shipping role

@xijingping7438

Ай бұрын

AShW role*

5 rockets! up against a swarm!

@mkultra3679

Ай бұрын

It's more like they would need 50 of them...

Is even a relatively cheap rocket a cost effective way to shoot down drones? I think the default anti drone systems will be based on guns possibly firing some sort of canister shot with an AI targeting system.

@zano187

25 күн бұрын

Its not so much cost comparison of drone vs rocket, its more rocket vs what the drone would hit, is the cost of the intercept more than the potential damage not intercepting would do. Still want to bring down cost of intercept, but this is such a small AA system that it wouldn't be that hard to slap onto a small boat.

@gamingrex2930

21 күн бұрын

@@zano187but that’s only true for GBAD defending civilian and logistical infrastructure. We’re talking about naval systems, where the most damage you’re going to accidentally do is nuking a school of fish, the most valuable thing on the high seas are the ships using said point Defense systems themselves. What navies need are highly attributable cost effective point defence, shit like proxy fuse AA rounds. Not yet another missile who can achieve PK >99%. If a gun based AA misses their mark, that she’ll that misses will just fly into the ocean. Why in the flying fuck do I need a highly precise AA missile with wave off and self destruct when I’m hitting a glorified flying ironing board in an area where friendly fire is barely a thing??

@zano187

20 күн бұрын

@gamingrex2930 that's half the point of this system. It's a beam riding proximity fused round propelled by a cheap rocket motor, quite literally as cheap of an interceptor you can make. The main difference is only the effective range is far longer than an AA gun, allowing it to not only defend itself but also perform screening for other vessels while taking up around the same amount of space or even less depending on the system. While it wouldn't fit on a rubber dingy, you can mount it on most partroll craft, giving them decent AA capabilities

Was waiting for the range. Anyway, it should be horizon-range or slightly longer. More useful than cruise missiles like in SEAS area

@MishaAmashukeli

28 күн бұрын

"The system can also be used to counter drone threats with a simple and cost-efficient solution being able to address UAS at ranges up to 3 km and height up to 2.5 km, using the newly developed FZ123 warhead on existing unguided rocket motors and with most of the rocket launchers in Thales’ portfolio."

Only 5 rockets??

in short s standard 70mm "new" Tungsten like Rockets, Time of field test, call Sweden get few Pansarbandvagn 302 and LAND-LGR4 Launcher“FLETCHER” on swing arm on side sliding platform with ready ranks under it, put the sensor unit where the anti aircraft sight is for 20mm gun plug it to the sensor and you have drone defines system for the airfield

The LMM/martlet is the best small rocket around at this point. You need a proximity fuse to be sure of hitting your target, a timed fuse would need to be very exact, so that it goes off at exactly the right time.

@davidgillon2762

Ай бұрын

Timed fuses are basically how all the modern airbursting rounds like AHEAD work.

@davec5153

Ай бұрын

@@davidgillon2762 maybe good for drones but missiles are moving so fast that a fraction of a second could mean it blows up too late or two early.

@davidgillon2762

Ай бұрын

If you're taking on missiles, then a cloud of ball bearings is the wrong warhead anyway.

@davec5153

29 күн бұрын

@@davidgillon2762 OK, their fine for drones and small boats but that space on a ship could be used for a better system.

@MishaAmashukeli

28 күн бұрын

Unguided rockets would be ineffective for missile defense anyway.

Looks perfect for smaller naval units or to add to non-forward vessels for defense. Not sure the difference between this and the now standard RAM systems ( besides having far more missiles in the launcher ). How fast is the reload?

@zano187

25 күн бұрын

the closest RAM system that is similar to this is the SeaRAM, with the actual closest match being the VAMPIRE system, as it is beam riding to target instead of internal tracking systems, wont wipe out a swarm, but can swat several drones from a fair distance using a relatively tiny AA system

@night8285

13 күн бұрын

RAM is an anti-missile system, this one is for cheap drones that's why they're using 70mm rockets, probably same from Hydra. In fact US has the same project that was being made by South Korea and being tested in this year RIMPAC.

"Timefusing" is a keyword.

I want a solution for submarine drones

Please increase your mini nuke loncher

This seems pretty silly. What they need is a CIWS type weapon with a single 40mm gun firing modern VT fused rounds. If you make it cheap enough you will KILL it on the back end through volume.

@SC-vw1nx

Ай бұрын

That’s Way they couldn’t mention any range ! CIWS type systems are useless against drones !

@davidgillon2762

Ай бұрын

Which is likely to be several times the weight, plus having recoil forces needing a robust mounting to the deck. And with a greater swept volume due to the barrel meaning you need a larger space to mount it in.

@mrstrul3.

Ай бұрын

You mean the THALES RapidfFire.

@sadlerbw9

Ай бұрын

I think they are advertising this as less likely to cause collateral damage than a cannon-based system. This is more about defense while in port than out there in blue water. Think trying to provide drone defense while docked in Norfolk rather than patrolling the South China Sea.

Laser would be more cost effective than this guided rockets against drones, also 5 rockets per launcher is too few.

@Cartoonman154

Ай бұрын

Depends on the weather as well. I have heard that LAWs are only effect, at the moment, up to a mile.

@jonlaurenzreyes1902

Ай бұрын

@@Cartoonman154 to be fare most drones can't fly in bad weather as well

@MishaAmashukeli

28 күн бұрын

They use unguided rockets with timed fuzes too, those should be cheap. Lasers are interesting but they have not really proven themselves in practice yet.

@jonlaurenzreyes1902

28 күн бұрын

@@MishaAmashukeli unguided?? Then in that case, using RCWS that can shoot air burst rounds like MLG 27 is better than 5 rockets.

@MishaAmashukeli

28 күн бұрын

@@jonlaurenzreyes1902 Maybe, but it's an interesting concept. An autocannon is not cheap, but a launcher for these rockets is just a bunch of tubes. For a ship that does not matter, but it can be useful for example if you want to defend thousands of electric transformers from drones.

As another commenter has pointed out, completely uneconomical and a logistical burden when drones will come at volume. We’re just one step away from a mothership drone with range carrying multiple short-range drones. This anti-drone solution is guaranteed to be too impractical and expensive.

@mattmaschmeyer

23 күн бұрын

I believe you're right when you're talking about kinetic systems that's why they need to invest into soft kill systems that will take out swarms of drones

@oldschoolben438

23 күн бұрын

@@mattmaschmeyer yes! EW, and even lasers if they increase ship battery capacity.

Range ?

@javierarmada4819

Ай бұрын

8km

@HayMaker-tv2dm

Ай бұрын

​@@javierarmada4819 No my friend! If those rockets fly 6km horizontal and 3 to 4km vertical its already awesome! 8km you are entering the range of missiles like the PARS 3 LR and Hellfire and the LMM Martlet,. 70mm rockets would not reach with max effective range to those distances, crazy!