Belgium reacquires 15 Gepard air defense systems from OIP for Ukraine with refurbishment planned to counter drone and sustain short range air defense capability
I really want Ukraine to release a video of a Gepard erasing 10 target drones in fast succession, people really have brainworms about this thinking swarms of drones are unstoppable.
The problem is 100 drones, and the magazines of a Gepard aren’t actually that deep.
So in a sustained saturation attack, it’s important to have layered defense - patriots, NASAMS, short range IR of various types, smaller laser guided munitions, gepards/ZSU-23-2 or -4, and then those computer controlled M2HB mounts they’ve come up with. It’s important to address every element of the saturation attack, and to employ the appropriate and necessary countermeasures for each threat level.
Had to look up their magazine size: 350 rounds is what they carry according to Wikipedia. Doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s a large exploding shell and the system has a high level of accuracy. I remember early on there was a report it was downing a drone in 5-7 rounds. So one maganize can neutralize around 50 drones or more. They can also intercept cruise missiles.
These are ideal for the protection of critical objectives as a last line of defense. Every one of them they get is a big addition.
I’m saying that any system can be saturated or overwhelmed, and that networked, heterogeneous systems are a much better system architecture for modern IADS. The Gepard is very good and a crucial part of Ukraine’s air defense, but it’s not infallible.
I really want Ukraine to release a video of a Gepard erasing 10 target drones in fast succession, people really have brainworms about this thinking swarms of drones are unstoppable.
The problem is 100 drones, and the magazines of a Gepard aren’t actually that deep.
So in a sustained saturation attack, it’s important to have layered defense - patriots, NASAMS, short range IR of various types, smaller laser guided munitions, gepards/ZSU-23-2 or -4, and then those computer controlled M2HB mounts they’ve come up with. It’s important to address every element of the saturation attack, and to employ the appropriate and necessary countermeasures for each threat level.
Had to look up their magazine size: 350 rounds is what they carry according to Wikipedia. Doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s a large exploding shell and the system has a high level of accuracy. I remember early on there was a report it was downing a drone in 5-7 rounds. So one maganize can neutralize around 50 drones or more. They can also intercept cruise missiles.
These are ideal for the protection of critical objectives as a last line of defense. Every one of them they get is a big addition.
Of course, but a Gepard with ~350 rounds loaded in each cannon can bring down a LOT of drones very quickly.
I’m saying that any system can be saturated or overwhelmed, and that networked, heterogeneous systems are a much better system architecture for modern IADS. The Gepard is very good and a crucial part of Ukraine’s air defense, but it’s not infallible.