Northrop Grumman is developing a layered air defense system against drone swarms, focusing on a new rapid-fire chain weapon system equipped with self-guided smart munitions that can neutralize drones at a fraction of the cost of missile defense systems.
Somewhere, a battlefield commander and his team monitor the airspace around their base. Radar and a vast network of sensors detect an incoming fleet of fighter jets, including heavy bombers and munitions carriers. Far outside the base defenses, the digital icons identifying each aircraft suddenly transform into a wave of cruise missiles, supersonic air-defense missiles, and armed drones.
The commander orders full alert and all defenses activated. Cruise missiles and supersonics leap forward as swarms file in behind. Despite jamming and evasive maneuvers, the base radar is able to track the enemy.
Suddenly, the night is lit up by interceptor missiles bursting from their steel and aluminum canisters and disappearing into the sky. Miles away, cruise missiles and supersonics update their data and map the terrain as they approach their targets. Seconds later, when their numbers are suddenly diminished by exploding interceptors, they vanish in huge, noisy fireballs.
The surviving missiles and drones behind them continue on their way. Now, once they’ve passed the interceptors, they should have a comfortable run. That idea is soon put to rest when the heavy guns ahead of them come down at a surprising rate. The survivors of this salvo are then met with even faster medium artillery fire. The incoming rounds don’t whizz past. Instead, they zero in on each drone. The same goes for the few who encounter the small-caliber guns firing at a frenzied pace, but not like machine guns firing indiscriminately. It’s like a smart shotgun firing a guided missile that explodes with each pellet, sending up deadly clouds of tungsten shrapnel that will tear apart the one or two missiles already made.
The night falls silent again, until the fighters of the counter-attack force and their loyal wingmen without crews roar overhead to deal with the attackers.
As recent events in the Middle East have shown, modern missile defenses have become incredibly effective, capable of taking out massive cruise missile, drone, and rocket attacks, so they barely hit their targets and none of them cause serious damage. Impressive, but also extremely expensive, with each defensive missile costing up to $4 million per round.
In addition to being expensive, such systems take a long time to build up their stockpiles, are difficult to move, and can be easily defeated if the attack force is large and persistent enough.
With Ukraine’s conventional air support being replaced by drones, it’s clear that these unmanned, cheap-to-build airframes are becoming a key component of modern arsenals around the world, and war planners will need to adapt quickly.
CBAD
One way is to use a layered defense. Instead of relying on one system to act as a protective blanket, different countermeasures are used to block and neutralize different threats at different distances from the target.
That’s the logic behind Northrop Grumman’s Ball-Based Air Defense (CBAD). Essentially, it’s a defense composed of existing long-range interceptor missiles to defeat supersonic and hypersonic threats; long-range, heavy-caliber weapons; medium-range, intermediate-caliber weapons; and short-range, small-caliber weapons.
Northrop Grumman
Of course, using guns for air defense is as old as aircraft. The difference with CBAD's weapons is that they are rapid-fire chain guns that carry bullets on a belt and fire them out like a machine gun. Even that's not all that new. Missile defenses like the Phalanx and Goalkeeper deflect supersonic missiles by throwing a metal wall in front of the threat. Modern chain guns, like the one in the video below, have another game-changing twist.
M230LF Bushmaster Chain Gun | Bushmaster Users Conference 2021
What CBAD uses is self-guided smart munitions equipped with proximity fuses. These lock onto their targets, steer themselves, and explode before impact, spraying the target with shrapnel. This increases lethality, reduces the risk of collateral damage, and is less costly.
“CBAD significantly reduces the number of rounds that must be fired to hit a target,” says Ryan Carlson, Northrop Grumman’s CBAD principal engineer. “With cannon air defense, we’re not firing thousands of rounds per minute. We’re firing very specific salvos — handfuls of rounds — with extreme precision on the intended targets.”
Northrop Grumman
As a result, CBAD’s medium gun batteries cost half as much as a missile battery and 99.5% less per engagement. This translates into millions in savings per round. Additionally, a medium battery can carry 200 to 400 rounds, compared to a missile battery’s two to six rounds, and is easier to deploy.
Currently, CBAD is undergoing simulation testing to find out how best to configure it and integrate it with command and control systems. The first field demonstrations are expected by the end of the year, with production expected shortly after.
“We’re modeling and evaluating what calibers we should use and doing a lot of mission- and campaign-level analysis,” Carlson said. “We’re also looking at what command and control architecture makes the most sense and looking to integrate CBAD into battle directors like Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) and Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD-C2).”
Source: Northrop Grumman