Assassination and sabotage just became much easier to accomplish...

 

I was intrigued to read about quadcopter drones being used to carry short-range missiles that could be fired against incoming drones.

A modified version of Malloy Aeronautics’ T-150 Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), designated TRV-150, intercepted multiple one-way attack drones during trials at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in late September, according to BAE Systems. The U.K.-developed platform fired laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) rockets from a three-pod launcher, engaging successive targets without landing to reload.

The test took place as part of a Mission Capabilities Joint Readiness Experimentation exercise  of the Department of War’s (DoW) Office of the Under Secretary for Research & Engineering, or OUSW(R&E).

The latest test builds on an earlier APKWS firing demonstration at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in 2025. On that occasion, the drone conducted single-shot engagements against both air and land targets, while the new trial introduced a three-pod launcher designed to engage multiple aerial targets in succession.

There's more at the link.

I'm sure the drones and their missiles will add another very useful layer of protection against incoming enemy drones.  However, there's another aspect to this that worries me.

These drones are small enough to get close to an intended target without being detected by most current defensive systems.  A quadcopter drone can fly down a narrow road, or along a firebreak in the forest, so low that it can't even be seen.  It can literally fly behind something like a delivery van if desired, and the crew of the van would never know it was there.  As soon as it got within range of the target, it could pop up over surrounding terrain, launch its missiles (and, if need be, designate their target with a laser beam), then duck down and make its escape the same way it arrived.

Think of the targets that could now become much easier to strike, because nobody would know the threat was approaching in time to do anything about it:

• A refinery, processing plant, etc.;
• An armory or aircraft on a military airfield;
• Oil tanks or vital equipment in a harbor;

and so on.  The list is almost endless.  In fact, one of the most worrying aspects will be the physical security of our leaders, both political and military.  If a national figure is scheduled to deliver an important address or be present at an important function, or a senior military commander is to visit units in the field, what if several such drones could approach unseen and salvo their missiles at him without warning?  His chances of survival would be minimal at best.

Terrorist groups and foreign powers will have no trouble at all getting their hands on such equipment.  (In fact, the guidance system used by APKWS has already been fitted to non-US rockets with complete success.  How many other nations have access to such rockets, even factories to produce them?  The number must be in the dozens or scores by now.  Even if compatible rockets are not available, there are competing rocket systems from several countries that can do the same job, and can presumably be launched in a similar manner.)

More and more, technology is a two-edged sword.  We can't do without it, that's for sure, but how long can we live with its proliferation?

Peter