Forbes:

Savage Corp. has revealed new details of a missile custom-made to stop drone swarms.

The challenge of tackling drones grows ever more urgent. Videos from the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia show drones easily overcoming air defenses, taking out dozens of vehicles and groups of personnel. China recently demonstrated a ‘barrage drone launcher’ that can launch 48 small kamikaze drones able to co-ordinate their actions in a swarm attack. Existing systems are not effective against this kind of mass air assault, but a counter-swarm of smart missiles, using the same technology that enables the drones, could do the job.

The problem is obvious with the SHORAD-IM, the U.S. Army’s next generation air defense vehicle, scheduled for 2023. It is armed with four Stinger missiles, a rapid-fire 30mm cannon, and two Hellfires. Maybe more Stinger launchers could be tacked on to deal with more drones, but in addition to weight, the problem is cost. Basic Stingers cost around $120k each; adding a proximity fuse to make them effective against small drones adds another $31k per missile. That’s not very practical against swarms of $2k multicopters…

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