Royal Navy’s new missile shoots drone down in first-of-its-kind operation

The Royal Navy has utilized a caller chopper rocket to sprout down a drone without extracurricular assistance successful a first-of-its-kind trial.

The unit fired a Martlet rocket from a Wildcat combat chopper to instrumentality down a Banshee drone flying astatine hundreds of miles an hr implicit the Bristol Channel.

The trial, which precocious took spot astatine RAF Manorbier successful South Wales, marks an important betterment successful the defence against the “very modern threat” of force drones, the Royal Navy said.

It follows a caller onslaught connected a Wildcat chopper deployed aboard destroyer HMS Diamond, which was repeatedly targeted by drones utilized by Houthi rebels successful the Red Sea and Gulf of Yemen.

Speaking astatine RAF Manorbier, Wildcat aviator Lieutenant Dave Guest said the quality to instrumentality retired drones without extracurricular assistance was a important summation the Royal Navy’s defence arsenal.

He said: “It’s truly important that we tin show the Wildcat’s effectiveness successful engaging targets specified arsenic uncrewed systems – and that we tin bash truthful connected our own, without requiring the assistance of different assets.”

Martlet is simply a highly-capable – and besides cost-effective – limb successful our arsenal, perfect for this, portion Banshee is typical of the challenges we look globally, peculiarly successful the Red Sea

Lieutenant Dave Guest

During the two-day trial, the Royal Navy deployed the autonomous Banshee drone arsenic the people for the Wildcat and its missiles.

After being launched via a ramp, the Banshee moved crossed the scope with the Wildcat poised to intercept.

Pilots manning the Wildcat past fired the caller Martlet rocket to instrumentality the drone down.

Lieutenant Guest said: “Martlet is simply a highly-capable – and besides cost-effective – limb successful our arsenal, perfect for this, portion Banshee is typical of the challenges we look globally, peculiarly successful the Red Sea.”

Commander James Woods, Commanding Officer of 815 Naval Air Squadron, said: “This is simply a fantastic improvement for the Wildcat HMA 2 chopper and a important advancement successful maritime onslaught capableness for the Royal Navy that further refines our quality to deter and neutralise airborne threats.”

The Wildcat is designed to prosecute a scope of vessels, including submarines, and boasts an air-to-air capableness usually restricted to accelerated jets, the Royal Navy said.

The chopper operates from Royal Navy frigates, destroyers and craft carriers, and performs a scope of roles from supporting hunt operations and tracking down drug-runners moving astatine precocious velocity crossed the ocean, to ferrying troops, equipment, and unit around, and conducting rescues erstwhile necessary.

Martlet is simply a lightweight, laser-guided rocket primitively deployed for usage against tiny and manoeuvrable targets specified arsenic accelerated onslaught craft, pitchy skis, and speedboats.