Cutting the Cost of Killing Drones at Sea

[From our correspondent at DSEI]

Shooting down Houthi drones in the Red Sea has been an expensive business.

Royal Navy Type 45 guided missile destroyer HMS Diamond (D34) was deployed in zone in the Red Sea for several months in early 2024, and on one night in January shot down seven drones aimed at merchant vessels, using its Sea Viper missiles. On its last night in the danger area, it shot down a Houthi ballistic missile. US Navy vessels, and other allies participating in Operation Prosperity Guardian, accounted for many more drones and missiles.

Whilst some drones were brought down by relatively inexpensively machine and chain gun fire from Phalanx and similar such systems, most takedowns were performed using missiles. A single Sea Viper missile probably costs more than $1m. The total cost of missiles fired by HMS Diamond during its Red Sea deployment has been estimated to be $25m, whereas the cost per unit of the Houthi drones shot down is probably in the region of $50,000.

The imbalance in the cost of attacking with drones, as opposed to defending against drones, makes the contest more than just a test of rival technologies. It also becomes a matter of attrition and economics, with defenders using systems designed for far more sophisticated targets running down stocks that are necessarily limited because of the cost of procurement.

The disparity has been clearly demonstrated once again by the recent air incursion into Poland on September 10 by at least 17 Russian drones. At least 15 were Gerbera decoy drones, unsophisticated dummies designed to draw fire, making the Russian effort either a test run or a political stunt. But this did not prevent an expensive array of air-to-air missiles being expended by NATO jets to bring them down. Economically, the contest was won by the Russians. In open war, a similar such attack would reduce NATO stocks of air defense missiles before the Russians deployed the real drones with explosive payloads.

Hence one of the most interesting stands at the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition held in London this week was that of Frankenburg Technologies. This Estonian firm has developed a short-range, speed-of-sound anti-drone missile for a unit cost of about $65,000. The company describe the missile as the smallest guided missile in the world. The Frankenburg Mk 1 can be fired from ships, but also from aircraft, drones, from fixed ground sites and armored vehicles. The low cost of the system effectively means that it could be deployed on many more platforms than is currently the case in naval applications, where the target demands a more sophisticated and integrated defensive approach. Frankenburg Technologies contends that the simplicity of its design will enable hundreds of missiles to be manufactured every week. The system appears to undergoing field trials in Ukraine.

Commander Dan Hallett, a director of the firm and a former Royal Navy officer, told TME "I’ve seen how fast maritime threats evolve. Today, Russian drones strike Ukrainian ports and Houthi drones target Red Sea shipping — proof that drones are now weapons of strategic disruption at sea. Frankenburg Technologies pairs frontline experience with advanced counter-drone missile systems for crewed and uncrewed vessels, giving navies, ports, and energy operators the tools to detect and defeat these threats before they endanger lives and maritime trade.”

It remains to be seen if prolonged Western procurement processes can transition from peacetime to more agile contracting in the face of an intensified and accelerating threat. Faced with the realities of a national struggle for survival, the Ukrainian government has an imperative to make that transition. But whether other governments still in peacetime mode can follow that lead remains to be seen.