GBAD - The return of 'FOBS'

[Kirkhill]

Rosneft Recruits Anti-Aircraft Gun Crews to Defend Samara Refinery Against Ukrainian Drones – Vyorstka - The Moscow Times

State oil giant Rosneft has advertised jobs for anti-aircraft gun and armored vehicle crews to defend a refinery in the southern city of Samara against Ukrainian drones, the exiled news outlet Vyorstka reported Friday.

www.themoscowtimes.com

Ukrainian Drones Close Moscow Airports as Putin Flies Back to Russia

Government planes reported to be carrying the Russian president and his aides home from Turkmenistan were forced to circle or divert to another city.

www.nytimes.com

Home Defence is everyone's problem.

 

[Kirkhill]

3000 CUAS interceptors a month

Tytan scales up low cost drone interceptor production

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

 

[Kirkhill]

This one really sounds interesting - Something closer to an all-aspect Trophy system than a SkyRange LAA turret.

Edda · AI Point Defense | 9 Mothers

Edda — 9 Mothers' AI-powered point defense turret. Fast, low-cost, autonomous-capable engagement of multiple FPV drones at 10–100+ m range.

9mothers.com

"Edda is an AI-powered point defense turret built for the engagements legacy C-sUAS can't handle — fast-moving 7-inch drones at 10–100 m, in cluttered urban and base-perimeter environments."

.....

"Edda, a roughly 50-pound (23 kg) counter-drone turret developed by Austin, Texas-based 9 Mothers.

"Edda detects the sound of small drone rotors, uses cameras to track targets and fires a shotgun. It is designed to engage drones approximately 7 inches (18 cm) across at distances between 33 and 328 feet (10–100 meters).

"In August, the U.S. Army tested the same turret on a self-driving Ford F-250 equipped with Forterra technology during a live-fire exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina."

US firm’s new driverless military vehicle can outsmart drones

US firms pair Razorback’s 4,000-pound payload & 500-mile range with autonomous driving and a shotgun turret for contested military resupply.

interestingengineering.com

.....

A class of system suitable for mounting on any vehicle for C-UAS (C-RAM?) or on any civilian base?

 

[Kirkhill]

The experimentation continues

Estonia weighs buying light jet aircraft to shoot down Russian jet-powered drones

Estonia's defense minister said the government should consider fielding aircraft capable of shooting down Russian jet-powered attack drones.

www.defensenews.com

"VIENNA — Estonia’s new defense minister said his country should consider buying light jet aircraft to shoot down Russia’s faster, jet-powered attack drones.

"Martin Herem, a retired general who took office Sept. 16, floated the idea in interviews after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. He told The Baltic Sentinel and the daily Postimees that Estonia should study the option, saying air-to-air weapons are the most effective counter to the drones."

....

Helicopters and turboprops were fast enough to deal with batteries and props. Do we need something like the Hawk, or, God forbid, the Gripen, to knock down jets and rockets?

Keeping in mind that the slower, cheaper threat is unlikely to go away.

 

[GR66]

C-UAS laser mounted on a UGV:

Startup’s laser turns Rheinmetall autonomous cargo vehicle into drone killer

Aurelius Systems is showing its Archimedes autonomous laser weapon mounted on an American Rheinmetall unmanned ground vehicle at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington this week, where the two companies are pitching mobile laser defense against

defence-blog.com

Archimedes is a lightweight turret that combines a high-power laser with machine vision and radar, and Aurelius says it can find, track and burn down a drone on its own without an operator initiating each engagement. The system is aimed at Group 1 and Group 2 drones, the small and medium-size types that include commercial quadcopters and many of the one-way attack drones used in Ukraine, and the company says it can defeat them at more than a kilometer.

The two firms announced their partnership in July. According to Tectonic, Archimedes is being integrated first on the Ox, the unmanned ground vehicle American Rheinmetall has entered in the U.S. Army’s Ground Optionally Autonomous Transport competition for a vehicle that hauls supplies and equipment over rough terrain. With a laser on board, a cargo-carrying vehicle can defend itself against drones during resupply runs, a role Rheinmetall has described as protection for autonomous logistics missions.

During the Pentagon’s T-REX 26-2 experimentation event, the laser downed more than 20 quadcopters and more than five drones supplied by the U.S. Army, Tectonic reported, and at the U.S. Army’s Operation Jailbreak exercise at Fort Carson, Colorado, Aurelius linked Archimedes with Anduril’s Lattice software and the Army’s Forward Area Air Defense command and control system, which ties sensors and shooters together.

Lasers appeal to militaries because each shot costs only the electricity needed to fire it, compared with tens of thousands of dollars or more for a missile interceptor, and Aurelius says it builds Archimedes largely from commercially available parts to keep the system’s own price down.

You could potentially push a small fleet of these forward from your positions to temporarily clear the immediate front of enemy FPV drones which could allow your ground troops to rapidly advance in the time gap it takes to launch replacement drones.

 

[Kirkhill]

The Aussies building a national GBAD system

Australia gets the ball rolling on medium-range air defense

Recognizing the massive gap, Canberra has launched a formal tender for a medium-range, ground-based air defense solution for the Australian Army.

www.defensenews.com

LAND 6504: the notice closed 12 October, and the prototype has already flown

Defence's medium range ground based air defence notice closed 12 October. The prototype shot down a cruise missile target in June with a CEA radar, Aegis and an SM-2. What is left to shape, and who is in the room.

enable.consulting

Australia Declares NASAMS Air Defense System Fully Operational

The Australian Army’s National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System has achieved final operational capability.

thedefensepost.com

AIR6500

The nature of conflict is becoming increasingly complex. Threats to Australia’s national security come from: air, space, sea, land, and the cyber spectrum

www.lockheedmartin.com

"The Australian Army’s National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) has achieved final operational capability, strengthening the country’s integrated air and missile defense architecture.

"The milestone confirms that NASAMS has met its operational requirements and is ready for Australian Defence Force (ADF) missions.

"Delivered under the Short Range Ground Based Air Defence (SRGBAD) project, NASAMS forms the inner layer of the broader Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability."

...

A 30 BAUD integrated system encompassing the existing Short Range GBAD system based on the Norwegian-American NASAMS system, a Joint Air Battle Management System by Lockheed Martin Australia (Air Project 6500) and the Medium Range GBAD system (Land Project 6504) prototyped with SM-2 missiles.

....

"PERTH, Australia — To protect a whole continent, Australia has only a regiment’s worth of NASAMS short-range air defense systems. Recognizing this is not nearly enough, Canberra has launched a formal tender for a medium-range, ground-based air defense solution for the Australian Army."

"The National Defence Strategy 2026 prioritized missile defense, calling for “accelerated introduction of medium-range, ground-based, active missile defense through investment in missile launchers and munitions and integrating them with the Australian Defence Force’s command-and-control systems.”

"This envisioned off-the-shelf system is expected to be a “proven capability,” contributing to a national, integrated system, the solicitation reads."

 

[Kirkhill]

And America ramping up Golden Dome activities

US Army support for Golden Dome missile shield takes shape

A U.S. Army air defense unit has been "earmarked" for support of the Golden Dome for America project, an Army official confirmed.

www.militarytimes.com