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.
Sonobuoys being loaded onto a USN P-3C Orion. (Photo: USN/Petty Officer 2nd Class Julian Moorefield)
Sparton/USSI JV Erapsco has been awarded a $181.88 million contract modification from Naval Air Systems Command for anti-submarine warfare sonobuoys.
‘This modification adds scope and increases the contract ceiling for the production of an additional 100,000 AN/SSQ-53, 16,000 AN/SSQ-101, and 10,000 AN/SSQ-62 production sonobuoys in support of annual training, peacetime operations and testing expenditures, and maintaining sufficient inventory to support the execution of major combat operations determined by the Naval Munitions Requirements Process for the [US] Navy and Foreign Military Sales customers,’ the DoD revealed on 27 September.
Work will be performed in De Leon Spring, Florida (54%); and Columbia City, Indiana (46%), and is expected to be completed in September 2025.
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?