Washington [US], May 18: The US military and other countries are using missiles worth millions of dollars to stop much cheaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Middle East.
Use a buffalo scalpel to kill chickens
Since the end of last year, Houthi forces in Yemen have conducted many attacks with missiles and UAVs targeting maritime routes in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden as well as Israeli territory.
To prevent, the US military and its allies have launched Operation Prosperous Guardian since December 2023. In April, US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said his force had used about $1 billion worth of weapons to prevent air and sea threats, according to the military magazine Breaking Defense. . US officials did not reveal what weapons were used, but most experts say it was most likely SM-2 missiles, which cost up to 2.1 million USD each. The shorter-range Sea Sparrow missile also costs nearly $1.6 million each. Meanwhile, the Houthi's one-way attack UAVs, mainly made by Iran, cost only about $2,000 each. Larger ones like the Shahed-136 are estimated to be worth $20,000.
Missile defense expert Wes Rumbaugh at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, USA) said in an analysis in February that the value of interceptor missiles cannot be simply compared with the target. of it, because it is necessary to take into account the value of the assets that US forces are protecting, which are important maritime routes as well as the lives of sailors on the ships. However, Pentagon officials admit the military needs to look for more affordable systems.
At a conference organized by CSIS on May 15, Rear Admiral Fred Pyle, Director of Surface Warfare of the US Navy, said that the military absolutely needs to invest in more cost-effective systems for interception. Cheap UAVs, referring to the Pentagon's secret UAV Replicator swarm program.
According to Breaking Defense , the Pentagon in March asked Congress to provide $1 billion over the next two years to develop this program, to produce thousands of low-cost autonomous devices to prevent enemy UAVs.
The cost of interception is too expensive
In a hearing before the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on May 16, Deputy Secretary of Defense in charge of weapons procurement Bill LaPlante repeated his proposal to invest and develop affordable weapons to deal with threats. This UAV, according to Axios site .
"If we shoot down a $50,000 one-way UAV with a $3 million missile, that's not a good cost balance," Mr. LaPlante said. Previously, this official repeatedly said that the cost of more than 100,000 USD per shot to prevent such threats was "too expensive" and unsustainable as more and more UAVs were brought to the battlefield. The deputy minister said the goal is to find systems that only cost a few tens of thousands of dollars per shot.
In February, the US Army purchased 600 Coyote interceptor UAVs in a $75 million contract with RTX Company, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies. UAV Coyote has a circular cylindrical shape and is launched from land-based and ship-based launchers. Coyote flies with a jet engine and has wings that fold into the body and will deploy as soon as it is launched. This type of weapon destroys the target by piercing directly or exploding upon approach.
Although the frequency of naval weapon use in the Red Sea in the past 7 months has increased, Rear Admiral Fred Pyle said the weapon supply is still in a sustainable condition. However, with new solutions for air defense still far away, the navy has discussed with manufacturers to optimize production and supply to ensure sufficient quantity and quality of weapon systems. having.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
