The U.S. navy warship USS Boxer brought down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz by using new technology that had just been added to naval defenses
A new Marine Corps anti-drone system that attaches to all-terrain vehicles and can scan the skies for enemy aircraft from aboard Navy ships was responsible for destroying an Iranian drone.
The Marine Corps’ Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, known as LMADIS, jammed an Iranian drone that flew within 1,000 yards of a Navy warship in the Strait of Hormuz
Pictures the Navy has released of the Boxer making the transit in the Strait of Hormuz already showed a specially configured 4×4 Polaris MRZR associated with LMADIS on the ship’s forward flight deck.
LMADIS, consists of a pair of MRZRs, both of which are equipped with the RADA RPS-42 hemispheric air surveillance active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar system. One them also has a CM202 sensor turret with electro-optical and infrared full-motion video cameras. The CM202 offers an additional means of positively identifying potential threats that the RPS-42s detect.
If it becomes clear that the target is hostile, Marines can then use a Modi jammer to disrupt the drone’s links to its ground control station, potentially causing it to crash. The Marine’s specifically developed LMADIS to respond to the ever-growing threat of small unmanned aircraft.
If the electronic attack doesn’t deter or destroy the unmanned aircraft down, Marines can switch to a kinetic option, such as the FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defense system, or MANPADS.
Low-altitude defense officers and gunners with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 (VMM-163) (Reinforced), which is currently deployed aboard the Boxer with the 11th MEU, trained with the system before the unit deployed
It couldn’t be determined how many times MADIS has been used to target a drone, but this week’s incident involving the USS Boxer appeared to be the first known use of the technology by a Navy ship.
The Pentagon so far has declined to officially say what it used to bring down the drone—or what kind it was
Defense officials also have declined to say whether the Iranian drone was armed. A U.S. official said the military didn’t recover the drone after it was downed.
