The HMS Diamond shot down the drone - the first time in decades that the Royal Navy has taken out an aerial target in anger
A Royal Navy destroyer warship has shot down a suspected attack drone over the Red Sea, the Defence Secretary has said.
The HMS Diamond was only sent to the region two weeks ago amid growing international concern about the threat to shipping.
The Type 45 destroyer was said to have destroyed the suspected attack drone targeting merchant shipping - with a Sea Viper missile.
It is believed to be the first time that the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial target in anger since the First Gulf War in 1991.
Grant Shapps said it was believed merchant shipping in the Red Sea was the intended target, in the latest such confrontation in the key global shipping route.
We really need a better way to take these out.
Missles will always cost more than the drone which makes it unsustainable.
Cheaper drones with self destruct
Several options are floating around.
Radar guided smart munitions. These gun based munitions steer based on commands from the ships radar and detonate when near their target.
Ship based lasers are also in use as prototypes by the US.
Electronic counter measures. Jamming the GPS signal and/or the signal with the operator can render most drones useless.
Lasers will always be in the prototype stage as they have been since the days of the Reagan administration
40+ years ago.
2021: How Close Is the Navy to Putting Lasers on Its Warships?
2010: Boeing designs ship-based laser weapon system
2001: The Promise and Problems of Laser Weapons
Their use in SF movies are far, far from reality.
The simple measure measure of covering a drove in mylar reflects 90% of the incoming radiation, meaning your system now needs to be 10 times more powerful to be effective.
Would a mylar covered drone not be easier to spot given its increased reflectiveness? Maybe that could be countered some other way via earlier detection making another option more viable?
We use lasers, so you cover in mylar, so now this other thing works.
They’re well into development and deployment of many methods.
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