I’ve read about many instances of Houthi drone attacks and missiles being successfully intercepted by US warships. I have no doubt that these ships are capable of completely neutralizing these types of attacks in a vacuum… but given the cost disparity between the drones/missiles and the defense equipment used to stop them… what’s stopping the opposition from spamming so many at once that the ships can’t keep up?
Instead of repeated, futile attacks, what would happen if the opposition stock piled all of their resources and launched them at once, in waves, one right after the other?
Surely there must be some finite limit to the amount of defensive ammunition (not sure of the right term here) the ships are able to carry at sea.
Is it just a matter of the ships being so well equipped that any force capable of exhausting their supplies is simply impractical- even if the drones are pennies on the dollar in terms of comparative cost?
In: Engineering
That’s been the basic concept of ship combat since the 1960s or so. 20th century world war 3 was going to have an act with massive squadrons of Soviet bombers launching hundreds of missiles at U.S. carriers.
That said, air defense ships carry a lot of missiles. The U.S.’s standard destroyer has cells for around 90 missiles, many or most of which will be for air defense, plus guns and various spooky electronics. They were built to have a fighting change in a superpower war. Also, I think the Houthis were mostly targeting civilian ships and the warships were trying to protect them.
Still, missiles are getting cheaper and more available, and you’re right, the time isn’t too far off when a mid-tier power can throw 97 missiles at a ship that’s got 96 to defend itself with. A lot of current thinking is around “disrupting the kill chain” which means break something the other side needs to find you and get their missiles launched. Stay over the horizon, shoot down aircraft trying to find you, jam sensors, attack missile launch sites, etc.
There’s also electronic warfare and a lot of interest in energy weapons, which could totally change the balance. The line between the two is isnt strict, [current radars](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/SPY-6) have more in common with microwave ovens than many people realize.
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