Firing an air defense missile worth several hundred thousand euros to destroy a “kamikaze” drone [ou munition téléopérée] which costs fifty to a hundred times less is obviously not sustainable in the long term. This is what General Thierry Burkhard, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, argued. [CEMA]in December 2023.
“In the Russian arsenal, one of the weapons most used for deep strikes is the Shahed drone of Iranian origin which must cost barely $20,000. Today, we sometimes shoot down this drone with Patriots or Asters which cost several million. When you kill a Shahed with an Aster, in reality it is the Shahed who killed the Aster,” he said during a conference at the Montaigne Institute.
Also, the objective is to reduce the “cost per shot”, whether to “wear down” the opponent… or avoid being worn down by him. This may involve better fire control or the implementation of electronic warfare means to disrupt the connection between the MTO and its operator. The development of new systems, such as directed energy weapons or electromagnetic cannons, is also a possible solution. [et qui est d’ailleurs envisagée par la Marine nationale].
However, the company Frankenburg Technologies, headed by Kusti Salm, who was still a senior official in the Estonian Ministry of Defense last September, intends to offer another solution. Indeed, it has developed the Mark 1, an anti-drone missile approximately 0.5 meters long and equipped with a military payload of 500 grams.
According to the explanations she gave, the Mark 1 should be much less expensive than the anti-aircraft missiles currently on the market while being “a hundred times faster” to produce. Equipped with artificial intelligence algorithms, it was designed to destroy Shahed-type MTOs [ou Geran selon la nomenclature russe] sent by the dozens against Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
“This missile targets drones that can fly up to 2 km altitude. Shahed drones are regularly used at these altitudes by Russia to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure,” Mr. Salm explained in an interview recently published by Jane’s.
It remains to be seen whether this low-cost anti-drone missile will be effective. To find out, we will have to wait for the results of the tests that Frankenburg Technologies is preparing to carry out in Ukraine, where production of the Mark 1 could be launched if they are conclusive.
Meanwhile, Frankenburg Technologies will open an office in the United Kingdom, where it intends to invest 50 million euros to develop low-cost rocket engines.
“Specializing in the manufacture of low-cost air defense missiles, the growing company already works closely with the British defense industry, sourcing a significant proportion of its subsystems from them” , argued Keir Starmer, the current tenant of 10 Downing Street, via a press release released on December 16.
Photo : Frankenburg Technologies
