‘Proximity’ Ammo Takes Out Enemy Drones – National Defense Magazine
‘Proximity’ Ammo Takes Out Enemy Drones
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — It is notoriously exhausting to shoot down small drones using small arms and common bullets, however new ammo for A sequence gun currents clients A greater probability of destroying them in mid-air.
Every of Northrop Grumman’s extreme-explosive twin objective 30×133 mm sphericals has a small sensor that detects drones After which explodes. It doesn’t Want to make a direct hit however be shut enough for the fragments Inside the airburst to take down a drone, said Mike Hafften, The agency’s director of ammunition enterprise enchancment.
“It’s Tailored in the direction of a kinetic kill performance To overcome The united stalook athreat,” he said in a briefing with reporters. It is notably relevant to take down Class I And sophistication II drones, which differ from 20 to 250 kilos.
Whereas The agency can’t current specifics on how the ammo works, the radio-frequency sensor inside each spherical Is predicated on sensing know-how “that has been aspherical For many years,” Hafften said.
The proximity spherical was developed for The army and is presently being distrihowevered to U.S. forces, he added. It Might additionally be used to pierce armor, agency factsheets famous.
The sensor inside each spherical does make the ammo Costlier, however Northrop is Engaged on manufacturing processes To Scale again The worth, Hafften said. Furthermore it is Much less costly To make the most of small arms ammo to destroy off-the-shelf drones Which may value the enemy as little as $200, he famous. An alternate Can be a Stinger missile, which is orders of magnitude Costlier to deploy, he added.
The proximity spherical is used with the M230…….
Source: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2022/10/3/proximity-ammo-takes-out-enemy-drones