Inside the defense industry’s push to build the next wave of counter-drone weapons

The global defense industry is developing directed energy weapons, cutting-edge electronic warfare and computerized fire control systems that improve the effectiveness of a soldier’s AR-15 rifle as affordable ways to combat the small attack drones that have revolutionized modern warfare.

The Russia-Ukraine war, the Houthis’ campaign against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and other conflicts have cast a bright spotlight on the fundamental changes drones have brought to battlefield tactics and the cost-benefit analyses for military planners tasked with countering them.

Tactical drones, many of them costing no more than a few thousand dollars, used to great effect in those conflicts, cannot be stopped with large, expensive ground-based missiles. Nor is it practical to shoot them down with traditional manned aircraft, especially in the coming age of “drone swarms,” which could include dozens or even hundreds of small craft acting in unison.

“Everyone knows that the trade-off cost of a kinetic effector against a cheap $300 drone is not sustainable,” Wesley Sparks, director of business development at Honeywell, told The Washington Times. “The magazine depth of what’s on a ship, what’s out in theater, that cannot be attrited left and right against these $300 threats. So counter-[unmanned aircraft systems], high-energy laser, is really that trade-off where it becomes a cost-effective approach and there’s limited side effects, and it can be very pointed. And so it’s really the way close-in air defense will be tackled.”

Honeywell is working on projects to provide components for laser weapons systems that could be used to take out enemy drones. Such lasers, or directed energy weapons, have moved out of the science fiction realm and soon could be part of a regular anti-drone tool kit for the U.S. and its allies.

Mr. Sparks spoke to The Times on the floor of the Air, Space & Cyber Conference last week at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The Air & Space Forces Association sponsored the event. Panel discussions throughout the high-level event and defense company displays on the sprawling convention floor focused heavily on counter-drone capabilities.

The effort is top of mind for defense companies all over the world.

Israel Weapons Industries’ contribution to the mission is Arbel, a computerized fire control system built to dramatically improve the accuracy and lethality of standard AR-15 rifles when used against drones. While connected to the rifle, the Arbel system continuously analyzes the shooter’s micromovements. It automatically times the release of rounds, firing only when a shot is calculated to cause the most damage to a drone.

In an exclusive interview with The Times, Semion, the director for Europe at Israel Weapons Industries’ parent company, SK Group, detailed how the system will give ground troops an invaluable tool while letting them keep their reliable weapons. Semion spoke on the condition of partial anonymity because of security concerns around his ongoing military service.

He said rank-and-file soldiers often have more to contend with than the threat of drones overhead, but those drones can derail a mission, and soldiers need the capability to deal with the threat quickly and efficiently.

“They’re not drone hunters,” he said. “They are on the ground. They have their own missions. They need to get from point A to point B. They need the weapons for other missions. Our philosophy at IWI with our anti-drone system is to maintain these abilities and use your main rifle as your tool to also intercept drones.”

Semion said the system adds to the lethality and effectiveness of the AR-15 platform without taking anything away.

In many ways, that approach represents the flip side of a reality in which militaries acknowledge that small drones will soon become as common as the rifle.

Through its Replicator initiative and other programs, the Pentagon is making a major effort to build drones in large numbers. That buildup reflects the growing consensus inside the defense industry that drones are becoming common tools of modern war used routinely at the tactical level.

Some defense sector sources have told The Washington Times that small drones, in particular, are becoming like ammunition: basic, attritable pieces of warfighting equipment that virtually every soldier will soon have in their personal tool kit.

That means each soldier should be capable of taking out enemy drones, Semion said. Allowing soldiers to use their primary weapons, with which they are already deeply familiar, to target drones will reduce ammunition costs and training time.

“In many aspects, even training on a system with Arbel integrated takes some of the training time and training ammunition needed for armies, and then you achieve all at once, which means you train faster with fewer ammunition, and you cover many more threats just by incorporating our solution into the system,” he said.

Semion clarified that the drones Arbel is meant to counter do not pose a “strategic threat” to ground forces. This means they are not the kinds of large aircraft that can cause mass casualties by dropping large bombs. Dealing with those kinds of threats would require missiles or other solutions.

The small drones could sabotage specific operations through surveillance, electronic warfare measures or more targeted kinetic options such as dropping grenades or small explosives.

Other defense industry insiders say that’s one of the biggest challenges drones pose: They add to the more traditional strategic threats to ground troops, armored columns and ships, such as missile attacks or fighter aircraft.

“UAS poses a unique challenge in that it stresses every part of the kill chain. It also doesn’t supplant any of the existing missions that we have in terms of air defense. You still have to worry about cruise missiles, hypersonics, manned aircraft, all those types of things. And so because of that, a lot of the existing systems aren’t quite as effective or are overkill,” said Michael Hiatt, chief technology officer at Epirus, which develops electronic warfare capabilities and other tools that can be used to combat drones.

Mr. Hiatt made his remarks during a panel discussion on counter-drone capabilities at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference.