In the continuing war of drones versus defensive systems, it’s entirely possible to shoot down an Iranian Shahed worth maybe $50,000 with a Patriot PAC-3 missile costing upwards of US $4 million (approx. A $5.76 million).
Effective yes but hardly cost effective.
To even the playing field, Northrop Grumman is developing a new counter-drone gun system firing a smart 50mm round out to around 10 kilometres.
This guided proximity-fuzed projectile will still cost some thousand per shot, still vastly cheaper than using a guided missile.
The system is called Raid Hunter and pairs a XM913 chain gun firing the new 50×228mm round with a broader sensor and control system.
It uses Northrop Grumman's AiON command-and-control software to track threats by way of connected sensors which could be any radar system, including Australian CEA radars. The system is designed to be readily deployable.
Northrop Grumman Vice President and General Manager for Defence Systems, Command and Control and Weapons Integration, Kenn Todorov, said the key feature of Raid Hunter was the new 50mm guided projectile.
Where once drones arrived in small numbers, the experience of Ukraine shows drones arriving in vast swarms to which existing countermeasures are not always able to respond.
Todorov said Raid Hunter was designed to counter to counter up to medium-sized drone and cruise missile threats at ranges beyond where smaller calibre gun systems are effective.
“You can be choosey about how many of these projectiles you send into battle to take out a threat,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“So rather than put up a wall of lead, Raid Hunter will allow the operator to shoot anywhere from two, three, perhaps four 50mm guided rounds to take out one of these threats. At a production cost of roughly in the mid-single digit thousands of US dollars.”
That’s a price range of US $3000-7000 (approx. A $4000 to $10,000) per shot, he said.
“Even at three shots per target, compared to a much more expensive interceptor, I think you can call it a low-cost interceptor,” he said.
This system remains in development but is showing considerable promise. Ballistic trials conducted at the Potomac River Test Range in Dahlgren, Virginia in mid-September validated projectile performance, generating useful flight data to advance development.
Todorov said this was being designed to be export capable from the start, using components at high Technical Readiness Levels, such as the proven chain gun.
“We see an operational prototype of the system in July/August 2027. We’ve got a high level of interest in the United States from both the US Army, in their integrated air missile defence mission, and also the US Air Force in their air-based air defence construct,” he said.
The key component of Raid Hunter is the new 50mm guided round which is also equipped with a proximity fuse.
Proximity fused rounds transmit a radio signal and detonate when the signal is reflected back from a nearby target. This is mature technology, developed at the end of World War 2.
Northrop Grumman has developed the proximity fused XM1211 30mm round which is effective against drone targets out to a couple of kilometres.
So how does the 50mm guided round work?
Movable control surfaces which guide traditional missiles won’t work on a projectile fired from a rifled barrel which may spin at upwards of 30,000 revolutions per minute.
“It’s got a unique design, really one of its kind. We tested this design in other capabilities, but it’s got a boat tail on the back of the round that counter rotates to the direction of rotation once it leaves the barrel,” Todorov said.
“It creates its own power. It’s a control surface in and of itself, but it also allows power to the round and that’s what allows the round to communicate back to the sensor and vice versa.”
That’s by way of a radio frequency link.
“The sensor is tracking the incoming threat. And then you can actually guide it (the shell) through this very exquisite technology,” he said.
Could Australia be interested?
Todorov said he had talked to Australian officials, inviting them to attend upcoming demonstrations, with the first scheduled for February and another in April.