German Hessen Frigate [사진출처 = 연합뉴스/빌헬름스하펜 로이터]
A German ship operating in the Red Sea against Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked a US military drone on the same side.
According to foreign media such as Germany’s Bild magazine on the 3rd, the German frigate Hessen, which was operating in the Red Sea at the end of last month, fired two missiles at the ‘MQ-9 Reaper’ of the US Air Force.
The ‘MQ-9 Reaper’ is a US military reconnaissance drone that costs $30 million (about 40 billion won) per unit.
Fortunately, it was not shot down, but criticism is pouring in that it could have revealed serious flaws in the performance of the German state-of-the-art ‘recognition device’ and US Air Force missiles.
According to Bild, the Hessen discovered an unknown drone while on a mission. Mistaking it for a Houthi militia drone, the crew immediately decided to shoot it down and fired two ‘SM-2’ anti-aircraft missiles.
US military drone MQ-9 Reaper [사진출처 = 연합뉴스/AFP]
However, both missiles had technical problems and failed to reach their targets and fell into the sea.
In the end, I’m glad. However, Bild magazine noted that this was a ‘blessing in disguise’.
This is because the identification device was not working properly and the missile also had a technical fault.
One expert said, “Theoretically, the missile should have hit a US military drone,” and added, “We must suspect serious flaws in the performance of the missile and the system that identifies allies and enemies.”
The Hessen was carrying out a mission to protect cargo ships passing through the Red Sea from attacks by Houthi rebels. This battleship is a first class frigate specializing in anti-aircraft defense.
British bulk carrier Rubymar sinks after being attacked by pro-Iranian Houthi rebels. [사진출처 = 연합뉴스/로이터]
The ‘SM-2’ missile fitted to the Hessen can climb to an altitude of 20,000 metres. It is known that the flight height of the US military drone at the time of the wrong launch was 12,000 meters. Although it was located at a point much lower than its maximum operating altitude, it failed to reach it and crashed into the sea.
The enemy identification system of the US military drone is also known to be disabled. This appears to be related to the fact that the drone was carrying out a routine reconnaissance mission unrelated to the Red Sea operation. It is possible that the enemy’s identification system was not activated because it did not consider that drones could infiltrate the Hessen operational area.
The Hessen, which has a length of 143 meters and a weight of 5,800 tonnes, is a state-of-the-art Aegis frigate from Saxony which is considered to have the best weapons capability in Germany.
Armament includes a 76mm Otto Melara cannon, a vertical launch system for surface-to-air missiles with 32 silos, two quadruple harpoon anti-ship launchers, and two triple torpedo tubes.
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