Classes from the wars in Russia-Ukraine and the Center East have led Southeast Asian international locations to quickly speed up efforts to spend money on and undertake counter-drone programs.
Malaysia not too long ago unveiled a domestically developed interceptor drone, generally known as “The Ghost.”
Final yr, Singapore introduced that each recruit coming into primary navy coaching will discover ways to function drones and counter drone threats. It additionally established the Singapore Armed Forces Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Growth and Operations group.
Indonesia is pursuing protection collaborations with China Aerospace Lengthy-March Worldwide Commerce Co Ltd (ALIT), and this potential partnership might concentrate on drones.
Cambodia used fiber-optic drones towards Thailand within the border clashes final yr. Following that battle, Thailand arrange an unmanned aerial system (UAS) warfare heart and a UAS battalion, tasked with the accountability to direct, plan, management, oversee and combine the military’s drone operations.
This elevated curiosity in counter-drone expertise was additionally mirrored on the Protection Providers Asia (DSA) and Milipol TechX (MTX) exhibitions, which concluded in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, respectively, in April.
Whereas coaching personnel and investing in {hardware}, akin to sensors and jammers, are vital, classes from the Russia-Ukraine struggle, the Center East, and the battle between Thailand and Cambodia spotlight a extra essential want: a multilayered method to counter drone threats.
Multilayered Protection
To successfully counter drones or drone swarms, Southeast Asian international locations ought to contemplate adopting a protection framework working throughout a number of layers.
The primary layer of protection includes drone detection. This may be achieved by deploying a mixture of programs, together with sensors (radio frequency [RF], acoustics, and radar) and cameras (electro-optical and infrared).
As soon as a drone is detected, the main focus shifts to identification. Synthetic intelligence (AI) programs, akin to AI-based decision-support programs (AI DSS), can be utilized to differentiate between pleasant and hostile drones. AI DSS, akin to Lavender and Maven Sensible System, are primarily identified for his or her reported use in goal identification throughout armed battle like these in Gaza and Iran. Nevertheless, these programs may also be employed to differentiate drones, particularly by integrating and fusing information from sensors and cameras, and analyzing RF indicators and different information factors, and thereby aiding militaries in figuring out drones. These programs can also assist to trace and prioritize which drones must be neutralized first, primarily based on elements akin to distance and flight time.
The subsequent layer of protection issues mitigating drone threats by way of non-kinetic measures. A major non-kinetic measure is jamming, akin to World Navigation Satellite tv for pc System (GNSS) jamming. GNSS jamming entails broadcasting highly effective radio indicators on the identical frequency bands utilized by GNSS satellites, which causes sign loss and leads to drones shedding the power to calculate correct positions or time.
One other non-kinetic method is spoofing, which includes sending faux GPS indicators, thereby deceptive drones into computing incorrect positions. Notably, some spoofed Russian drones had been reportedly “redirected” both to their factors of origin or into Belarusian territory.
Nevertheless, each jamming and spoofing may cause vital civilian impacts, akin to rising aviation dangers and disrupting delivery and telecommunications. To mitigate these impacts, cyber takeover of drones can also be thought-about. This may be achieved by way of a number of strategies, together with hijacking a drone’s management indicators and forcing the drone to fly to a managed touchdown zone.
The subsequent non-kinetic measure includes utilizing high-energy weapons, akin to lasers and high-power microwaves (HPM). Laser weapons burn or disable drone elements with centered mild, whereas HPM weapons work by emitting directed bursts of electromagnetic power to disrupt a drone’s electronics. HPM weapons operate equally to a home microwave oven however function over a lot better distances. For instance, the Hurricane 3000 – developed by the Chinese language state-owned enterprise Norinco – can disable drones at ranges exceeding 3 kilometers. This technique is already being deployed within the discipline. The operational prices of an HPM weapon could be as little as a few yuan per shot. Such low operational prices present a bonus within the context of drone warfare, which is more and more being characterised as a struggle of attrition.
The ultimate layer of protection includes kinetic results, utilizing each standard and unconventional projectiles. Relating to unconventional projectiles, two developments have emerged. The primary issues interceptor drones, that are designed to crash into enemy drones. In footage launched by the Ukrainian Ministry of Protection, Ukraine not too long ago launched an interceptor drone from an unmanned floor car (USV) to interact a Russian Shahed aerial drone. This mixture of maritime and aerial drones marks the primary engagement of its variety, with the intention to strengthen Ukrainian air protection.
One other development that has emerged pertains to using nets connected to drones to entice enemy drones. This has additionally been noticed in Ukraine, the place the totally autonomous DroneHunter F700 programs, developed by Fortem Applied sciences, have been deployed to intercept Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. These programs are additionally utilized inside the Gulf area.
When it comes to standard projectiles, small arms in addition to missiles launched from plane or ground-based air protection programs can be utilized to counter drones. Nevertheless, these missiles typically value considerably greater than the drones they aim. For instance, a Patriot missile prices roughly $4 million, whereas a Shahed drone could value solely between$20,000 and $50,000. Consequently, counting on such costly missiles to focus on drones is just unsustainable. Consultants have advocated for the event of low-cost, good missiles, following studies that Russian drones are being geared up with turbojet engines. These engines enable the drones to fly two or thrice quicker and at larger altitudes than interceptor drones, thereby rendering them out of date.
Wanting into the Future
Whereas the abovementioned multilayered protection community is essential for countering drone threats, it’s merely a part of the answer for Southeast Asian international locations.
Finally, the profitable operationalization of a multilayered protection community is determined by the power of Southeast Asian international locations to adapt quicker.
A living proof is the ineffectiveness of Thailand’s sign jammers towards Cambodian drones geared up with fiber-optics. Equally, the emergence of drones fitted with turbojet engines highlights how rapidly present countermeasures could be outpaced. Southeast Asian international locations should, subsequently, interact with expertise firms and start-ups, with the intention to make sure the early adoption of rising applied sciences, together with these driving drone and counter-drone programs.
The duty for Southeast Asian international locations is to know the trajectory of drone and counter-drone applied sciences and to maintain adapting quicker. On this manner, these nations can be certain that they’re ready for the subsequent era of drone warfare.
