Drone warfare has become a defining feature of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and new video of Hamas’s recent attacks on Israel have proven that the militant group is now utilizing similar tactics to counter the IDF’s fleet of superior armored vehicles. The US military is also moving forward on plans to embed small grenade-dropping drones within units of its ground forces. These will complement its existing arsenal of loitering munitions.
As the adoption of unmanned aerial equipment becomes more common among the US’s enemies, the military must focus more closely on countering these weapons as well. Two divisions of the US Army have now been equipped with counter-drone systems and hundreds of millions of dollars have been disbursed to Raytheon, Leonardo DRS, and Northrop Grumman to speed the rollout of these technologies over the next couple of years.
Related ETF & Stocks: SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR), AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV), RTX Corporation (RTX), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC), Leonardo DRS, Inc. (DRS)
Earlier this month, the US Army moved forward on a plan to develop gear to arm small commercial drones for combat. According to Defense One, two undisclosed companies will demonstrate payload mechanisms for dropping a selection of munitions that troops would have readily available, such as 40mm or 60mm grenades, within eight to twelve months’ time. New types of augmented first-person view (FPV) drones could supplement the US army’s current repertoire of loitering munitions, providing much cheaper options than what is currently used. As an example, an advanced drone like the Switchblade 300, manufactured by AeroVironment, can cost $6,000 per unit, while improvised FPV drones being utilized on both sides of the Russo-Ukrainian war can deal similar damage to targets at a cost of just $200 – $400.
In generating our in-depth coverage of the war in Ukraine and its implications for investors, MRP has viewed video footage from the battlefield dominated by clips of small kamikaze drones flying directly into armored vehicles, artillery launchers, and other expensive equipment, as well as dropping grenades into trenches and neutralizing the defensive advantage these fortifications can provide. These drones…
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