Modular Gun Systems Might Make Drone Strikes Optional
A small handful of shipowners have accepted drone and missile strikes as a cost of doing business on high-revenue, high-risk routes - a recurring hazard that causes damage, disrupts operations, and may injure or kill crewmembers. But there may be an alternative to accepting kinetic hits: installing air defense systems. Multiple defense contractors are coming up with modular gun and missile systems that could abate aerial threats, and the risk of suicide drone boats as well.
At this year's Euronaval show, BAE Systems and Aselsan are both marketing self-contained deck gun systems for merchant ship installation. The units are adapted from standard-issue naval air defense systems, common on NATO warships and proven against a variety of threats.
Merchant ships are almost universally unarmed in peacetime, and for good reason: guns on board create questions for customs authorities in any foreign seaport, and can swiftly lead to legal problems for the crew and the owner. When there is a critical need for armed guards, the generally accepted practice is to embark and disembark them (and their arms) at sea, away from any port.
But in time of war, armed merchantmen have abundant precedent, and in the Black Sea and Strait of Hormuz, merchant vessels are already targeted in the same manner as combatant vessels (all laws aside). For vessels dedicated to high-risk routes, several defense contractors perceive an opportunity to revive the concept of defensive armament. Aselsan sees a civilian-market opening for its Gokdeniz air defense system, based on the proven Korkut ground-based antiaircraft cannon. Its twin 35mm turret dispenses proximity burst rounds at a rate of up to 1,100 per minute, putting shrapnel in the path of incoming threats. It can be lowered below the horizon for surface threats, and is effective against aircraft and helicopters. The system consists of a modular turret and a single container for supporting equipment.
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BAE Systems has a comparable solution in mind: a 40mm Bofors gun with airburst ammunition, designed for simple installation in a containerized configuration. An uprated version would come with an integrated fire control radar, turning it into a fully functioning close-in weapons system. BAE emphasizes its programmable ammunition, which can be adjusted to one of six different settings to tailor the effect to the target.
The concept has recent precedent. China's military has tested modular air defense systems on merchant ships, up to and including high-end air defense interceptor launch modules - a warship-level capability far beyond what is needed for point defense against assymetric threats.
