BAE Systems has tested its new drone hunting missiles machine by conducting ground-to-air test firings, according to a press release by the company published on Tuesday.
The experiments proved the effectiveness of 70mm rockets guided by APKWS guidance kits against Class-2 unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that weigh roughly 25-50 pounds and can travel at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
The demonstration was done in Southern Arizona and saw five APKWS-guided counter-UAS rockets fired from a containerized weapon system. The test results exhibited APKWS guidance kits’ ability to enable low-cost, precision strikes against airborne threats.
“Militarized drones are becoming more prevalent in conflicts around the world, and we’re giving our customers an efficient way to counter them without wasting expensive missiles,” said Greg Procopio, director of Precision Guidance and Sensing Solutions at BAE Systems.
“Our tests demonstrate that APKWS guidance kits have the flexibility to engage a variety of targets to meet the evolving mission needs of the warfighter.”
“The resulting precision munition is a low-cost, supersonic, lock-on-after-launch strike weapon with a large 10-pound warhead that can destroy large drones in a matter of seconds with or without direct contact,” said BAE Systems in its statement.
They can be fired from various platforms, including jets, helicopters, trucks, boats, and weapon stations.
They are available to all U.S. armed forces, as well as U.S. allies via Foreign Military Sales.
Other drone-hunting machines include the SkyWall Patrol, a net launching bazooka.
The shoulder-mounted bazooka uses compressed air to fire its net and keeps the drone in one piece as it guides it back down to earth.
The DroneDefender is a lightweight point-and-shoot device. Weighing in at four kilos, the DroneDefender blocks all UAVs radio, GPS, and ISM signals, forcing the drone to return to its user and land.
Finally, there’s Boeing’s Anti-Drone “Death Ray” Truck. The weapon is tethered to a truck and is a High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator that uses an invisible laser beam to take down drones in almost any weather condition.