US tests Israeli-made weapons on pioneering drone ship

W.G.Ewald

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The US Navy tested an 11-foot naval drone capable of firing missiles at enemy vessels off the Maryland coast last week. The missile system and launcher were supplied by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

A Friday Wired report indicated that the navy has been working on the project since 2007. Despite the successful test, which saw the craft fire missiles at dummy targets up to two miles away, a fleet of naval drones is still "years and many more tests" away.

The US Navy tested an 11-foot naval drone capable of firing missiles at enemy vessels off the Maryland coast last week. The missile system and launcher were supplied by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

A Friday Wired report indicated that the navy has been working on the project since 2007. Despite the successful test, which saw the craft fire missiles at dummy targets up to two miles away, a fleet of naval drones is still "years and many more tests" away.


Although aerial drones have become a common facet of modern warfare, the remotely controlled inflatable craft is the first naval drone with anti-ship capability tested by the US.
Video embedded at link.

US tests Israeli-made weapons on pioneering drone ship | The Times of Israel
 

Godless-Kafir

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If idiots at DRDO had any clue they could sell the Lakshya target drone to US for much lower price than what they get locally!
 

pack leader

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two operational squads armed with machine guns and grenade launchers
protect Haifa and ashdod military harbors
 

mikhail

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two operational squads armed with machine guns and grenade launchers
protect Haifa and ashdod military harbors
mate can you please tell us what kind of granade launchers are used in these naval drones and also if there are plans to integrate short and intermediate anti-ship missiles to these drones in the near future?please enlighten us in this matter and thanks in advance!
 

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mate can you please tell us what kind of granade launchers are used in these naval drones and also if there are plans to integrate short and intermediate anti-ship missiles to these drones in the near future?please enlighten us in this matter and thanks in advance!
the grenade launcher in use in the IN is the GD mark 47
the new version (tested by the Americans ) has spike er missiles
we use spike er in our super dvora mark 3 patrol boat
 

W.G.Ewald

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Navy test-fires missiles from robot boats - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG
U.S. Navy ships face the growing threat of small boat swarms used by terrorists, pirates or enemy countries. New testing has shown off a possible counter that looks strangely similar except for the lack of human sailors — small robot boats armed with missiles.

The Navy launched six missiles from an unmanned surface boat — called the unmanned surface vessel precision engagement module (USV PEM) — during testing on Oct. 24. The 36-foot robot boat carries both missiles and a .50 caliber machine gun that can take on small boats that may threaten larger Navy warships.

"Technology demonstrated in this project can provide a capability to combat terrorists who use small low-cost vehicles as weapons platforms," said Mark Moses, assistant program manager for NAVSEA Naval Special Warfare.

Successful testing could add another weapon to the Navy's arsenal for countering small boat threats — a terrorist attack used a small boat as a floating suicide bomb to cripple the destroyer USS Cole in 2000. Countries such as Iran have also armed their navies with small boat swarms that can launch missiles or torpedoes in an attempt to overwhelm the defenses of U.S. Navy warships.

The U.S. Navy has previously tried a number of possible defenses against boat swarms, including helicopters armed with homing rockets and shipboard defense turrets that use both lasers and machine guns.

But the latest test using the Navy's unmanned boat also represents part of a large shift to using robot ships, submarines and flying drones. The Navy has begun experimenting with small drones that could launch from submarine trash disposal chutes along with its large X-47B drone designed to take off from the decks of aircraft carriers. [Could the Navy Ever Build a Flying Aircraft Carrier?]

In the unmanned boat test, Navy operators remotely controlled both the boat and its weapons while launching missiles at moving targets as far away as 2 miles. The Spike missiles, made by the defense company Rafael, represent anti-armor weapons that use electro-optic and infrared sensors to identify targets.

"The fiber optic tether is ultrathin and is spooled up and uncoils automatically during flight," Moses said. "This allows the operator to view updated targeting information to the missile while it is in flight and to confirm the missile is tracking the intended target up to the moment of impact."
 

average american

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Do remember there are hundreds if not thousands of US Defense firms that come up weapons and take them to the military for testing in hopes of selling them to the military of the USA or even other countries.
 

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