U.S. forces in the Middle East are using directed energy (DE) weapon systems to protect themselves against enemy drone and missile attacks, but more are needed as part of a layered defense and to lower self-defense costs, the commander of U.S. Central Command said on Thursday.
Army forces supporting CENTCOM in the Middle East are experimenting with mobile, short-rage DE air defense systems, Army Gen. Michael Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Kurilla said he “would love” to have the Navy “produce more” DE weapons to shoot down drones instead of having to use expensive missiles to protect against these threats.
“But what’s worse than not having that expensive missile shoot it down is hitting that $2 billion ship with 300 sailors on it,” Kurilla told the committee during a hearing on the needs of CENTCOM and U.S. Africa Command.
DE weapons such as lasers and high-powered microwaves are expected to provide a very low cost-to-defeat ratio against relatively inexpensive drones and other missiles. The U.S. does have to get after the “cost curve” with its counter-drone systems, he said.
Kurilla was asked about the Iran-built Shahed drones that are being used by that country’s proxies to attack US. Forces in the region and shipping traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. He said described the Shahed’s as a “precision guided weapon,” some of which have a 2,000-kilometer range.
Drone swarms are also a concern, he said.
Continued investments in high-powered microwave weapons, which are a form of directed energy, are needed to counter drone swarms, Kurilla said. The RTX [RTX]-built Coyote interceptor has been “very effective” in countering drone threats but nothing is 100 percent effective, he said, which is why layered defenses are necessary.
CENTCOM forces are experimenting with a system that can counter both unmanned aircraft systems and land attack cruise missiles, has a speed of 300 knots, and can return and land if operators decide not to engage a target, Kurilla said.
Kurilla asked Congress to pass the Biden administration’s proposed supplemental for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, highlighting that the bill includes $531 million for CENTCOM’s counter-drone needs.
Kurilla, and his counterpart at AFRICOM, Marine Gen. Michael Langley, highlighted several needs and developments during the hearing:
- Both generals highlighted the need for more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Langley said he currently relies on contractor-owned and operated ISR, that includes Beechcraft 350 aircraft, and added that he does not have enough ISR assets given the current threat;
- Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) asked about the usefulness of having the Armed Overwatch capability in both commanders’ areas of operations. Kurilla said an Armed Overwatch that can also conduct ISR is “beneficial” but that air defenses are a concern given that it is a “slow mover.” Kelly also asked if the OA-1K SkyWarden aircraft being built by Air Tractor and L3Harris Technologies [LHX] for U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch mission would be “appropriate” for their missions, Langley said he would have to do “a full assessment” based on the threat, and Kurilla replied “it depends on the region we would operate it with.”
- Gary Peters (D-Mich.) asked about CENTCOM’s experimental task forces. Kurilla said that Task Force 39, which has been focused on counter-drone activities, autonomous logistics, and mobile command and control, has stood up an additive manufacturing center to build parts in the command’s area of responsibility and avoid the need for a “logistical convoy.”
- Integrated air and missile defense is a top priority for CENTCOM and is working with regional partners radar sharing agreements to have a common air picture to see the threat, Kurilla said.
- Kurilla also lamented the slow pace of the U.S. foreign military sales process to meet the security needs of partners in the CENTCOM region.
- In response to a question from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) as to why taxpayers should be funding operations in Africa, Langley said “that a number of countries are at the tipping point of actually being captured by the Russian Federation as they are spreading some of their false narratives across Libya.” North Africa’s Maghreb region is NATO’s “southern flank” and the U.S. needs “access and influence” to counter China and Russia in the region, he said, because “They want that ground. They want power projection capabilities.”