The U.S. Navy Wants Its Non-Combat Warplanes To Be Able To Shoot Down Missiles

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Popular Mechanics: The Navy Wants to Give Its Bigger Planes a Way to Shoot Down Missiles

Small interceptors, perhaps on a drone wingman, would keep big planes safe from air-to-air threats.

As the U.S. Navy reorients towards powers such as Russia and China with their own large air forces, the sea service wants to outfit its larger, non-combat warplanes with small interceptors meant to shoot down incoming missiles air to air missiles. The technology would be the first active defense system operating in the skies. The interceptors would be carried by the planes themselves or a robotic bodyguard.

The Navy issued a Request for Information from the defense industry on May 3rd. According to FlightGlobal, the service calls the concept “Hard Kill Self-Protection Countermeasure System,” or HKSPCS. HKSPCS would consist of interceptors carried in a pod or internally in an aircraft that would launch to shoot down incoming missiles. Alternately, the interceptors could be carried by a drone escort, or wingman.

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WNU Editor:  The tech to shoot down a missile by firing a missile from a large non-combat warplane will be impressive .... if they can do it.