Defeating large volleys of Loitering Munitions and sUAS

Defeating large volleys of Loitering Munitions, military derivatives of commercial UAS & other Group 1/2 UAS's means placing Directed Energy & Electronic Warfare at the center of the layered defense. It would have to become the primary means of threat-defeat with kinetic kill being secondary.

The first line of defense from a kinetic perspective would most likely have to be interceptors that can disable several drones or other munitions once deployed. Similarly, gun-based kinetic solutions can form the last line of defense.

The middle and the densest layer would have to be dispersed, and overlapping Directed Energy coverage via High Power Microwave (for larger volleys and swarms) including airborne HPM, High Energy Laser solutions and Electronic Warfare.

"Kinetic only" solutions in an expeditionary environment and at the forward edge have severe limitations. This is an environment where "offense" has significant numerical advantage (multiple orders of magnitude) at the tactical level, and even a greater advantage at an industrial level. This is where Directed Energy (DE) can level the playing field. You are not counting on achieving cost parity with the threats which limits the technical abilities of interceptors & warrants massive capacity (can take decades). Each DE system that rolls out has practically an endless magazine.

Finally, affordable (to produce and deploy quickly) gun based smart solutions (like prox fuzed rounds) can form the last line of defense for force protection when paired with affordable, lightweight and efficient detection and tracking RF & EO/IR sensors.

"Self Defense is never denied" is why Cs-UAS capability needs to exist at every level of a deployed combat force. This demands setting aside traditional, expensive & time-consuming weapon system solutions & moving to a layered approach that can be put out at scale.

While current High Energy Laser (HEL) scaling & High Power Microwave (HPM) initiatives are focused on defeating more complex threats at ranges, these systems for Counter Loitering Munitions, or Cs-UAS applications are ready for service. Here, it's not a case of developing the technology but rather scaling production & having industrial capacity.

Based on Twitter thread https://t.co/HtNCJJCBV8