Why small guns have been critical to layered CUAS architectures
Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.
USS Chafee launches a Block V Tomahawk. The USN will receive 70 more Block V missiles under the latest contract for Raytheon. (Photo: USN/Ensign Sean Ianno)
Raytheon Missiles and Defense has received a new $217.12 million contract from US Naval Air Systems Command to provide 154 full-rate production Block V Tactical Tomahawk All Up Round missiles.
The order comprises 70 Block V missiles for the USN, 54 for the USMC and 30 for the US Army, the DoD announced on 24 May.
Work will be performed at various US locations as well as in Canada and the UK, for completion by January 2025.
Tomahawk is a tactical land-attack cruise missile that can be fired from surface platforms or submarines and aircraft. It is primarily used by the USN and the UK RN.
The USN is currently recertifying its Block IV Tomahawk arsenal to Block Va (which includes a multimode seeker) and Block Vb (which includes an improved warhead to penetrate hard and deeply buried targets).
Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.
The Singapore-based technology company unveiled its new rifle family at this week’s airshow. Chen Chuanren spoke with the ST Engineering’s head of small arms to find out more about how the weapons have been refined.
Any potential ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission would be months in the planning, but with tensions high in the region given the US’s push for Greenland, NATO countries will need to continue to emphasise their commitment to the region, analysts have said.
Defence Minister Gen Vladimir Padrino López has declared that the Venezuelan armed forces “will continue to employ all its available capabilities for military defence”.
The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.
Disruption of infrastructure in Europe, whether by cyberattack, physical damage to pipelines or uncrewed aerial vehicles flying over major airports, as has happened more recently, is on the rise. What is the most effective way of countering the aerial aspect of this not-so-open warfare?