NATO’s Exercise ‘REPMUS 24’ (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Unmanned Maritime Systems) tested Counter-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (C-UAV) systems. Michael Stewart, U.S. chairman of NATO Naval Armaments Group, highlighted the challenge posed by low-cost unmanned systems versus expensive countermeasures. Stewart noted NATO and the U.S. are focused on addressing this imbalance, but could not share specifics, referencing efforts to prevent both drones and their operators from launching attacks. Portuguese Navy Admiral Henrique Eduardo Passaláqua de Gouveia e Melo emphasized the economic inefficiency of using costly surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to counter inexpensive UAVs. He suggested future solutions may involve a combination of electronic warfare (EW), directed energy weapons, fragmentation shells, and possibly lasers.
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