Using missiles worth millions of dollars to destroy armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) costing $20,000 of Houthi forces in a campaign to protect commercial ships passing through the Red Sea. This is the concern of Western military officials who believe that this is too wasteful.
According to Le Point Newspaper, to intercept small armed UAVs of the Houthi forces in the Red Sea, since the end of 2023, French destroyers have used expensive Aster 15 missiles, estimated at more than 1 million USD/missile. . In Ukraine, to destroy the Shahed UAV, which costs $20,000, the Ukrainian army, with Western support, used the Patriot air defense system, which costs millions of dollars.
“We have shot down many UAVs with Patriot air defense systems or Aster missiles. When using the Aster missile to destroy the UAV, in reality it was the UAV that killed the Aster,” General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of the General Staff of the French army emphasized.
A French destroyer fired an Aster 15 missile to stop the Houthi force’s UAVs. Photo: Le Point
However, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, Commander of the French Navy in the Indian Ocean region, said that the cost of attack UAVs should not be compared with the cost of interceptor missiles. According to Mr. Slaars, the issue is not just the cost of a missile used by the French military but more importantly the cost of what the country protects.
“In this specific case, the use of UAV interceptor missiles is intended to protect French sailors and warships against attacks by Houthi forces in the Red Sea. Our warships are present in the area to protect container ships and oil tankers passing through the Red Sea,” Rear Admiral Slaars said.
In conflicts, countries’ armies are equipped with expensive, high-tech weapons to deal with rebel groups using cheap weapons. The dilemma of ammunition costs is always present. Typically, the Iron Dome system was developed by Rafael (Israel) and Raytheon (USA) in the 2000s and was significantly improved after a difficult start in 2011. Currently, the Iron Dome system affirms its effectiveness. 95% effective in protecting residential areas from short and medium range missiles (up to 70km).
However, according to Le Point newspaper, the cost of developing the Iron Dome system is quite expensive. In addition to the cost of developing the Iron Dome (a figure kept secret by Israel, but the US contribution alone amounted to $205 million), Tel Aviv also had to bear the cost of ammunition. A Tamir missile for the Iron Dome system costs about $50,000 and is used by Israel to intercept “homemade” missiles used by Hamas, which costs only a few hundred dollars, of which Hamas mainly uses fertilizer. agriculture for manufacturing.
For example, on May 10 and 11, 2021, Hamas invested about 250,000 USD to fire 480 rockets. To intercept, Israel fired a series of Tamir missiles worth more than $10 million in just a few hours. As a result, Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system is often criticized for its high cost, leading some Israeli political leaders to believe that the system will plunge the Jewish State into a war of attrition. economy.
Recently, Israel deployed a new defense system called Iron Beam to intercept rockets and UAVs fired by Hamas from Gaza and by Hezbollah fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Israel said this system will be a “game changer” because it is much cheaper to operate than existing systems. However, this system is not yet operational.
Currently, Western military research agencies are redoubled their efforts to develop less expensive interception solutions. The promising solution is the use of laser weapons, which are cheap and unlimited, as long as the weapons and energy production infrastructure are kept operational. Philippe Gros, a senior researcher at the French Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), said that current laser weapons can only intercept missiles and small UAVs, with a capacity of several tens of kilowatts and can intercept missiles. subsonic missile.
BINH NGUYEN
