Shaaban Bilal (Aden, Cairo)
The increasing threats in the Red Sea prompted the United States of America to search for innovative solutions to deter Houthi drones targeting commercial ships, as the Defense Innovation Unit in the Pentagon announced that it was seeking a plan to completely destroy drones and not temporarily disable them.
According to the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, drones are becoming an increasing threat to US forces and commercial ships crossing major sea routes around the world.
The report explained that the US Navy intends to develop a rapid prototype and conduct a phased operational test within 3 months, with an evaluation plan to validate the performance of one or more of the proposed solutions on board ships to combat drones, and it is expected that the solutions will be able to be rapidly deployed in the country. Worldwide, they are integrated with a variety of maritime platforms and must demonstrate the ability to easily integrate into existing sensors on board naval vessels.
These solutions are still being researched by many defense industry companies in the United States, for which the Pentagon has set several conditions to provide these kinetic solutions, the most important of which are cost, accuracy, tracking, research and repair, and speed in confronting the Houthi marches.
Military experts believe that these technologies must be more accurate and effective in confronting “drones.”
Egyptian military expert, Major General Samir Farag, explained that the United States is seeking to find new technologies through private sector companies working in the defense industries that will be more effective than missiles that cost huge amounts of money.
Faraj explained to Al-Ittihad that there are two main factors that the Pentagon seeks to achieve in this type of weapon that aims to destroy drones before they reach the target, which are reducing the cost compared to using missiles, the cost of which reaches two million dollars each, in addition to creating an effective and accurate weapon for aircraft from Drone.
Houthi drone attacks in the Red Sea led to the death of 3 sailors, severe damage to more than 12 ships, and a 900% increase in insurance premiums on shipping against war risks.
For his part, General Mark Kimmitt, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense, said that it is clear that the US Navy realizes that its current portfolio of capabilities is no longer sufficient to defeat the Houthis in the Red Sea.
Kimmitt added to Al-Ittihad that the Defense Innovation Unit seeks to shift to the commercial sector in order to develop and equip an effective and complete response capability in a quick timetable, indicating that the Pentagon is not looking for a specific technology, but is looking for a solution without telling how to achieve that.
The advisor to the Egyptian Military Academy for Postgraduate and Strategic Studies, Major General Pilot Dr. Hisham Al-Halabi, agreed that the development and growth of the use of drones in military operations has created a significant threat, especially in light of the absence of an integrated system that can repel drones with a high reliability rate.
Al-Halabi stated to Al-Ittihad that some countries, led by the United States, are seeking to find more effective solutions, which prompted the Defense Innovation Unit to put out an advertisement for American arms companies to develop technologies capable of confronting “drones,” especially in light of the negative impact the sea is witnessing. Red in the movement of commercial ships and increasing their insurance.
Al-Halabi pointed out that the US Defense Innovation Unit requested that defense industry companies’ solutions include “monitoring and destroying” “drones.”
In this context, American strategic expert, Calvin Darke, pointed out that this initiative shows the awareness of American military leaders and decision-makers in Congress of the growing threat of drone attacks by the Houthis, and the continued increasing use of them to target major international shipping areas.
Dark continued in a statement to Al-Ittihad, “Neutralizing drones is a costly matter, and the United States needs a more cost-effective way to respond to this threat,” explaining that seeking commercial partners from the private sector for this initiative is essential. Because the US Army wants to take full advantage of innovation and creativity to confront the “drones” technology that the private sector can provide.
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