(Bloomberg) — The proliferation of uncrewed systems in the Ukraine-Russia war has highlighted the importance of drone defense capabilities. But the dilemma militaries around the world face is that the attack weapons tend to be far cheaper than the response to destroy them.
Drone costs can range from just a few hundred to several thousand dollars, and their price tag is rapidly depreciating as innovation and mass production pick up. That’s a fraction of the outlays for most air defense missiles, which at the high end command price tags of tens of millions for a single shot.
Efforts to solve that conundrum were on display this week at the DSEI defense expo in London, where the halls were packed with lasers, missiles, jammers and even other drones designed to defeat small, uncrewed threats. What they all had in common was an attempt to bring down the “cost per kill.”
Drones — or uncrewed systems, as the larger versions are often called — have come to the forefront of warfare since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. As the conflict chews through more conventional battlefield tools like artillery, both sides of the conflict have leaned heavily on drones for surveillance, defense and attack missions.
“In Ukraine, it’s really scaled drone-on-drone warfare,” said Jan-Hendrik Boelens, CEO of anti-drone company Alpine Eagle GmbH. “And our interceptor is essentially a small drone, so it has the price tag of a small drone.”
Electronic warfare, including jamming and spoofing that confuse drones’ controls systems, is another defensive method. Dozens of companies at DSEI promoted such technology, which has the benefit that it can potentially intercept multiple drones at once.
“It would then essentially wipe out the electronics in the entire swarm, and they fall to the ground,” Mike Sewart, the chief technology officer for Thales SA’s UK subsidiary. “Rather than a point-and-shoot model where you are literally targeting those drones one by one.”
Others, like US-based Droneshield and Dedrone, showed off portable systems that can be aimed like rifles. Lasers, which burn drones out of the sky, were on display en masse at the fair, from multiple versions of the well-known Iron Beam from Israel’s Rafael to offerings from smaller competitors such as Electro Optic Systems and IPG Photonics. And while both lasers and electronic-warfare systems are initially expensive and complex to build, they are then cheap to operate.
MARSS from the UK has developed ground-launched interceptors designed to keep costs down and reduce the risk of accidental damage by simply flying through enemy targets. The small, X-shaped missiles use battery-powered propellers to hit speeds of more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) an hour, then crash through targets protected by a titanium nosecone. The interceptors were developed for use around oil fields, which would be more sensitive to explosives.
“Nine times out of ten it’s about bang for buck or cost per kill,” said Robbie Draper, the company’s operations director.
The surge in demand for anti-drone equipment has attracted investment. Tytan Technologies, a Munich-based startup building drones that intercept UAVs, recently raised $19 million from European investors, and the Ukraine and German armed forces have tested its interceptors.
While the focus of modern battlefield warfare has been on Ukraine and Russia, other countries fearful of military incursion are also looking for ways to bolster their drone capabilities. Only last week, Russian drones were shot down over Poland.
NATO faces a critical shortfall of anti-drone defenses, according to Bloomberg Economics defense lead Becca Wasser. Taiwan, concerned about an invasion from China, has said its current stockpile of just a few thousand drones was far too small for its needs.
The Pentagon last year announced a $1 billion initiative exploring drone warfare around Taiwan, drawing lessons from Ukraine, where maritime drones largely neutered Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Germany recently announced large-scale drone purchases, although at a level lower than other European countries.
Companies all over the world have sprung up to provide the weapons, and established players have sought to develop their own offerings, such as Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Indago 4 and BAE Systems Plc’s Malloy T-150.
The growing number of drone threats means the variety of defensive systems must expand at a faster pace, said Fabian Hinz, an analyst at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
“There is a lot of focus on affordability of counter-UAV solutions, but a more important metric might be availability and scalability of production,” Hinz said. “In other words: even if the money was available, we would not be able to acquire enough.”
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