X-Bow Systems has presented the Buckleran air defense interceptor designed to shoot down drones from the Group 3 for less than $100,000 per unit. The American company has announced it in the Farnborough International Airshow in United Kingdom as an alternative cheaper and easier to manufacture than missiles used against aerial threats.
The company defines it as supersonicwhich means it can overcome Mach 1the speed of sound and equivalent to about 1,225 km/h. X-Bow has not revealed the Buckler’s top speed, range, guidance system, or how it destroys the target.
Group 3 belongs to the classification used by the United States Department of Defense to order unmanned aerial systems according to their weight, speed and operating altitude. The scale includes five groupsfrom the small drones of the Group 1 to the great strategic platforms of the Group 5. The first three form the category that the Pentagon calls small UAS.
Group 3 devices weigh more than 25 kilograms and less than 599 kilogramsthey normally fly below 5,486 meters and do not exceed 463 km/h. They are tactical platforms with more autonomy and load capacity than those of groups 1 and 2, suitable for reconnaissance, surveillance and attack missions. These include models such as RQ-7B Shadow and the Shahed-136 Iranian.
X-Bow Systems ensures that the Buckler combines High performance at high speed with a design ready for large-scale production. Its development responds to economic imbalance caused by attacks with cheap drones and in large numbers. Shooting down devices worth a few thousand dollars with missiles that cost millions depletes stocks and forces the defender to spend much more than the attacker. The industry also faces difficulties in increasing production of solid-fuel rocket motors.
‘You can’t win a war of attrition trading million dollar interceptors for a few thousand dollar threats’he states Jason Hundleyfounder and CEO of X-Bow Systems, in a statement.
X-Bow manufactures in-house Buckler’s structure, propellant, and solid-fuel rocket motor. This vertical integration aims to reduce costs, control quality and increase the production rate with less dependence on external suppliers.
‘The Buckler has already flown, costs less than $100,000 and we manufactured its airframe and propulsion system ourselves, precisely the part of the industrial base that is under greatest pressure from current ammunition needs. This is our response to the call from the United States and its allies for affordable, widely available capability.‘ explains Hundley.
The program has passed the concept phase. X-Bow assures that a recent test validated the propulsion and general behavior in flight, after static tests of the engine and the ignition system. Those responsible for X-Bow Systems consider that the success of these tests Buckler moves closer to entering service although, for now, the company has not announced acquisition contracts, deliveries to Armed forces nor a date to start serial production. He Pentagon He has limited himself to requesting a presentation on the interceptor.
‘As the country rebuilds its arsenals, X-Bow Provides Affordable, Large-Scale Capability for the Battlefieldengines A WHILE prepared for combat that are already in service and propulsion systems for next generation hypersonic and strategic programs,’ the company assures.