An American company has developed ammunition for detecting and destroying small drones

The military conflict in Ukraine has shown the great importance and high efficiency of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for various purposes and classes in modern warfare. At the same time, it became obvious that to shoot down drones, especially small ones, with existing air defense systems is rather difficult and very expensive. Looks like a solution to the problem of destruction drones small size found in the American defense company Grumman Corporation.

A representative of the corporation told National Defense magazine about the successful testing of 30x133 mm dual-use high-explosive fragmentation cartridges for the M230LF Bushmaster machine gun. The ammunition is equipped with a small sensor that detects drones, then an explosion occurs, with the drone being damaged by shrapnel, rather than a direct hit by a projectile.

The company is keeping exactly how the new round works under wraps, but according to a Northrop Grumman spokesman, the RF sensor inside each round is based on sensing technology "that has been around for decades." Currently, new cartridges have already begun to enter service with the US Army.

In addition to being highly effective against small drones, the new munition is said to be unique in that its cost is several times lower than other systems for destroying UAVs. For automatic targeting, a special ACE program is used, but, as a representative of the developer company emphasized, the M230LF Bushmaster cartridge and machine gun can work with any guidance system.

The new ammunition has proven to be highly effective in destroying single targets, but the guidance system is not yet capable of working out with high quality on a large cluster of UAVs. The developers are currently trying to fix this issue.

For example, shooting down 100 drones in one battle is an expensive test that has not yet been conducted.

the representative said armory company.

Comments

[Maxim G]

Quite an expected development.
Soon anti-aircraft artillery will be brought up, for larger drones.

[cold wind]

Given the size of this gun, a very relevant solution.

Quote: Maxim G

Soon anti-aircraft artillery will be brought up, for larger drones.

Yeah. 155 mm artillery.

During (summer 2020) exercises, a 155mm M109 Paladin howitzer shot down a BQM-167 Skeeter special aerial target acting as a Russian cruise missile. The goal was worked out during the demonstration of the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).

[Hitriy Zhuk]

Expensive and stupid.
There are 20-23-30-57mm with self-liquidators.
Here they adapt to install them at a distance automatically and will not be expensive and effective.

[Galleon]

Quote: Hitriy Zhuk

Expensive and stupid.
There are 20-23-30-57mm with self-liquidators.
Here they adapt to install them at a distance automatically and will not be expensive and effective.

To implement your proposal, you will need a radar to determine the range to the target, tubes in small-caliber artillery shells and an OUT mechanism - automatic tube installation. Oh yes, it's cheap and effective.

[Hitriy Zhuk]

Provided that the tube is already there(is it not there?) - only a mechanism, the range can also be measured with a laser.

[Galleon]

I wish you to quickly get into a UAV clearly visible from afar with a laser range finder and enter this range somewhere.
30 mm ammunition most often does not have tubes. Here at this

in question is definitely not.
And are you a soldier? I have never been an artilleryman, but I have seen the AUT mechanism more than once and have a little idea of ​​the rate of fire with it. And you?

[Galleon]

Sly Beetle, my dear, I criticize you, but as soon as he sat down in a puddle, on a supersonic projectile, he set out to talk about an ultrasonic sensor. And you didn't correct me. Here's the confusion.

[Maxim G]

It is not clear how it is planned to detect a drone in the case described in the news.
First, you need to find it, then fire.

[cold wind]

Quote: Maxim G

It is not clear how it is planned to detect a drone in the case described in the news.
First, you need to find it, then fire.

As you wish. News about the projectile.

And so they put SHORAD into service.

There are OLS and radar and modular weapons. This projectile fits perfectly for these ZRPKs.
On the buggy, 3 radars are clearly visible, on the MRAP they are in the trunk, on the stryker around the perimeter.

[Maxim G]

Well, okay. Thank you.
What I and others have said is being implemented.

Now priority targets will bristle with such installations with detection tools.

And the end of the Wuederwaffe UAV.

[cold wind]

Quote: Maxim G

Now priority targets will bristle with such installations with detection tools.

And the end of the Wuederwaffe UAV.

The eternal struggle of the shield and sword.
A penny mavic and artillery of the 60s, so there is no column of expensive armored vehicles. This cannot be allowed. These SHORADs are extremely versatile. The radar sees the fired projectiles and calculates the launch location i.e. counter-battery radar also sees targets on the ground. Weapons are also universal.

[Maxim G]

I also had thoughts about this, is it possible to use a counter-battery radar to detect drones ....

[cold wind]

Quote: Maxim G

I also had thoughts about this, is it possible to use a counter-battery radar to detect drones ....

Yes, you certainly may. Radar is radar. By the way, now our air defense radars are used as counter-battery ones. The Zoo did a very poor job.

[cold wind]

Quote: Galleon

To implement your proposal, you will need a radar to determine the range to the target, tubes in small-caliber artillery shells and an OUT mechanism - automatic tube installation. Oh yes, it's cheap and effective.

Yeah. Dimensional item. Well, not a radar, a laser rangefinder is enough.
The Turks did this for 40 mm AGS

[your1970]

Quote: Galleon

To implement your proposal, you will need a radar to determine the range to the target, tubes in small-caliber artillery shells and an OUT mechanism -

Quite enough machinery Radar with operators, yeah ..
The Americans perhaps found the right way.

Well, as an option, Maxim's quads are the most budget option. Cheaper is definitely not realistic

[cold wind]

Quote: your1970

Well, as an option, Maxim's quads are the most budget option. Cheaper is definitely not realistic

In the army of 2022 there was a Tiger with a BM with 4 PCs.

[loki565]

Radar is not needed, it will work within line of sight. You need a good thermal imager plus a laser rangefinder.

[your1970]

Quote: loki565

Radar is not needed, it will work within line of sight. You need a good thermal imager plus a laser rangefinder.

The distance is too small to be detected

[Pulkovo1942]

Currently, new cartridges have already begun to enter service with the US Army.

I want such news about the domestic defense industry, and not in 2027, 2030, etc.

[filibuster]

To be honest, while it sounds like a fantasy, if they really could fit everything that is written into a 30 mm caliber, then this is just an incredible leap in armament, there are so many applications here at once.

[Alex koch]

In caliber 30 mm, you can fit the stuffing of a modern smartphone. And the projectile doesn’t even need that, a Wi-Fi module, a weak processor for analyzing signal strength and firmware for issuing a command to undermine. In fact, all this fits into a modern wireless headset, i.e. you can shove it even into a 12,7 bullet, even into a 23 mm. It's just that 30 mm has a reach in height and a fragmentation field is more adequate to the task. Even the question of price is the cost of the cheapest Chinese headphones. The question here is how to control the level of charge in the batteries of shells.

[filibuster]

You may not have read the article carefully, if they said that this is a projectile with a programmable detonation time or with an explosion on the trajectory, then this would not cause any surprises, but in the article verbatim:

The ammunition is equipped with a small sensor that detects drones, then an explosion occurs, with the drone being damaged by shrapnel, rather than a direct hit by a projectile.
The company is keeping exactly how the new round works under wraps, but according to a Northrop Grumman spokesman, the RF sensor inside each round is based on sensing technology "that has been around for decades." Currently, new cartridges have already begun to enter service with the US Army.

Cramming an RF sensor and harness into a 30mm projectile, and having it all work in such harsh operating conditions, is a giant breakthrough (unless, of course, journalists embellish it).

[Alex koch]

I read everything carefully, SoC technology just fits into what was written. Military computer chip + Wi-Fi sensor chip + power supply, all filled with compound in one package, this is not a breakthrough, this is an evolution. It’s just that most likely they developed a single-chip system with the necessary functionality for their task. And in a 30 mm projectile you can shove a crystal 15x15, 225 sq. mm. - this for such functionality behind the eyes

[Alex koch]

In general, I mean that modern microelectronics allows you to shove the seemingly unimaginable at an affordable price. The main thing is to have production technologies

[filibuster]

SoC technology just fits in with what is written.

Everything fits on paper, in practice, systems with trajectory-programmed projectile detonation in caliber 30 mm units work with a big book of reservations. I actually participated as a firmware programmer for the glonass plug-in module and I know how many problems the hardware engineers had to make the SOC you mentioned in the minimum dimensions (which would not fit into 30 mm), a lot of effort was spent on getting stable operation, combating interference, etc. .
There is also little information in the original article, but I suspect that it is most likely that the drone is detected stupidly by the radio emission of its transmitter, as soon as the point of maximum signal power passes, the projectile explodes, but such a system will also work with reservations.
But if they pushed it into 30mm, full-fledged radio sounding, then I repeat this is a step into the next era.

[Alex koch]

Well, progress does not stand still, just recently they introduced routers based on Intel Atom
https://cnx-software.ru/2022/09/13/sistemy-na-kristalle-maxlinear-anywan-urx850-urx851-i-mxl25641-intel-atom-prednaznacheny-dlya-shirokopolosnyh-marshrutizatorov-i-shlyuzov/
Specification:
URX851 SoC: Quad-Atom, PON MAC, 4×2.5GE PHYs + 8 HSIOs 99LS51 FCBGA-837 (24×26)
URX850 SoC: Quad-Atom, 4×2.5GE PHYs + 9 HSIOs 99LS50 FCBGA-837 (24x26)
MxL25641 SoC: Dual-Atom, PON MAC, 5 HSIOs MXL25641-AV-T FCBGA-577 (17x17mm)
Quite fit in 30 mm
And this is a commercial product, but we don’t know what the warriors have and we don’t know)

[Garik Gorkin]

if they shoved it into 30mm, full-fledged radio sounding, then this is a step into the next era

1. Do you think there is only a radio sensor (which catches the drone's own radio signals), or is there also a radio transmitter (to irradiate the target and then catch the reflected signal)?
2. I am not a radio engineer, but I have a little doubt about the breakthrough of technology. If the task is to detect the target only at a close distance (5-10 meters), then we can draw a parallel with low-power bluetooth technology, which works at such distances and is very tiny (inserted into the ear).

[Genry]

Quote from: filibuster

Cramming an RF sensor and harness into a 30mm projectile and having it all work in such harsh environments is a giant breakthrough.

If the projectile is 30mm, then this is stupidity - there are few fragmentation parts. Even grenade launchers make 40mm.
NATO, on mobile platforms, now has 40mm guns - this is optimal against medium armored vehicles, infantry and for close air defense.

[Alex koch]

The quadrocopter is enough for the eyes, but as I understand from the article, this is just against them, the rate of fire is more important here

[stankow]

There is not a battery, but a special power source, it turns on only when fired. Delivers one watt of power for the duration of the projectile, 10 seconds in total. Stored for decades.

[Galleon]

I believe the ultrasonic sensor and generator due to the rotation of the projectile. The magnetic stator rotates freely on the axis and remains relatively at rest due to the inertia of the mass, while the rotor windings rotate with the shell of the projectile. Ultrasound does not require a lot of energy and a complex circuit, as for a microwave electromagnetic pulse. The boys are creative! But most importantly, there is practically no time or barriers between a thought and a scheme and a finished product. Already enviable.

[stankow]

The first radio explosives ate like they were with windmills. Miniature wings.

[Galleon]

800-1000m/s - which spinner? Turntables are for free-fall bombs. But at the same time, you understood the idea - here the turntable is internal, but not due to the air flow, but due to the rotation of the projectile. And no batteries, the shelf life is determined only by the decomposition of centuries.

[stankow]

Well, it's possible. And the shelf life will be limited only by the chemistry of the detonator

[your1970]

Quote: Galleon

But most importantly, there is practically no time or barriers between a thought and a scheme and a finished product. Already enviable.

Is it really easy?
Everything else is somehow not very cheap and not very effective.

[Galleon]

Quote: your1970

Is it really easy?

I'm sorry, I don't understand what your question is about? If about the difference between a radio frequency sensor and an ultrasonic one, then the ultrasonic one will be simpler. If about the speed of implementation of the idea, then this is entirely the speed of financing. Under capitalism it is measured in months and expediency, under socialism it is measured in years and agreements.

[your1970]

Quote: Galleon

If about the speed of implementation of the idea, then this is entirely the speed of financing.

I'm talking about the simplicity of the design. That is, the Yankees can quite manage in a year or two?

[Galleon]

How can I tell you ... For them, the microcircuit is not a problem, its cost is 5-10 dollars and the sale price is twenty. Not a processor, of course, but a controller, amplifier, etc. The device in question is the controller level - there is a measured input signal from the sensor and a signal to the actuator - a fuse. Speed ​​- about 10-15 milliseconds. No protection against interference is needed - the air is clear from flying objects. Yes, I think that such a task when making a decision is within their power.

[Genry]

Quote: Galleon

I'm assuming it's an ultrasonic sensor.

No good!
When a projectile flies, there is so much of this ultra-power that is incommensurable.

In anti-aircraft 57mm they put an optical one, which in a spiral (the gun is rifled), scans around the projectile ...

[Galleon]

Here is what I screwed up. record! What kind of ultrasound can we talk about if a supersonic projectile is flying!? embarrassing and funny. Well then what's left? The simplest radar sensor? Passive IR?

[filibuster]

The drone will redo the video for the operator plus control, and this is a radio channel, if the conversation is small drones, then they naturally do not have satellite communications, respectively, if it is possible to detect a radio signal, then this can be used to build a drone detection system and determine the maximum approach to it.

[Galleon]

The only negative is that this ammunition will also work on crows or swallows.
or plus The expression "from a cannon to sparrows" takes on a new meaning.

[stankow]

Crows are smart, they hit the road. But your drones, you need a system of your own / someone else's. In the radar, of course, not in the fuse. So we are waiting for the defendants in the drones

[wlkw]

I won’t be surprised if 7,62 mm quick-firing anti-aircraft machine guns come up ..
As an additional tool.

[Fizik13]

A representative of the corporation told National Defense magazine about successful tests high-explosive fragmentation cartridges dual purpose 30x133 mm for M230LF Bushmaster machine gun.

So you are a reindeer!
It is generally accepted that everything that is more than 20 mm is a cannon caliber. The M230LF is a modification of the M230 30mm aircraft automatic cannon.
It's just another publicity stunt. on the subject, give us money too.
In our press in the 10s they wrote about 30 mm remote detonation ammunition for the BMP-2 and 3, with laser beam programming. BUT these were only experiments and developments.

[yuriy55]

The new ammunition has proven to be highly effective in destroying single targets, but the guidance system is not yet capable of working out qualitatively for a large cluster of UAVs. The developers are currently trying to fix this issue.

UAV "Geran-2" is capable of climbing to a height of 7 km. Such a machine gun is unlikely to reach him.
"Small" and cheap drones have a specific purpose, and to provide troops along the front with such systems:

cartridge and machine gun M230LF Bushmaster can work with any guidance system.

and even with a high defeat efficiency - it is unlikely to succeed.

[Sergey Aleksandrovich]

There are a lot of inaccuracies in the article. The M230LF Bushmaster is a 30mm cannon, not a machine gun. As if the use of Doppler radars in larger ammunition is not new. So it should have been written that they managed to place in a small caliber.

[Kostadinov]

30 mm projectile with a radio viewer, nothing new. Micro drones are better shot down with automatic machine guns and machine guns or hunting weapons. For mini drones, automatic guns 37-57 mm or MANPADS are suitable. For medium-sized bayraktar-type ZURS short-range drones.

[Rainfall]

Here is the cartoon from January 29, 2021:

Quote: RainFall

Here is a cartoon to protect the T-54, T-64, T-72, etc. Place CWIS on a tank to destroy ATGMs and drones. Armament can be 12,7-mm machine gun and RG-6 grenade launcher. Weapons are swappable, so the CWIS has two 12,7mm or two RG-6s. Update CWIS for laser weapons in the future. CWIS radar can reach 10 km. RG-6 and 12,7mm use intelligent technologies (algorithms) to shoot down drone and ATGM. The top of the battle tank needs to be widened.

https://en.topwar.ru/179488-tanki-ischezajut-posle-shvatki-s-hj-10-kitajskaja-pressa-pokazala-kadry-primenenija-samohodnogo-ptrk.html#comment-id-11182905

[Rainfall]

Russia has an anti-drone:

Special forces units use Tigr-M armored vehicles with the Arbalet-DM combat module in Ukraine
https://topwar.ru/198976-podrazdelenija-specnaznachenija-ispolzujut-na-ukraine-bronemashiny-tigr-m-s-boevym-modulem-arbalet-dm.html

Ammunition with remote detonation will increase the effectiveness of the 30-mm cannons of the BMPT "Terminator"
https://topwar.ru/189114-boepripasy-s-distancionnym-podryvom-povysjat-jeffektivnost-30-mm-pushek-bmpt-terminator.html

Russia designs projectiles with controlled detonation
https://www.armyrecognition.com/weapons_defence_industry_military_technology_uk/russia_designs_projectiles_with_controlled_detonation.html