Australia Sends Ukraine the Slinger Drone-Killer System
Slinger’s 30mm chain gun and advanced detection system could be a game-changer for Ukraine on the front lines.
The job of low altitude air defense gunner (LAAD) hasn’t changed much in 50 years. In fact, the most recent version of the US Marine Corps LAAD Gunner’s handbook doesn’t mention the words “drone,” “UAV,” or “UAS” once in its 283 pages.
But the doctrine is changing quickly.
The rapid onset of swarms of angry consumer drones on the battlefield seemingly took everyone by surprise.
Of course, we dealt with small consumer drones attacking us occasionally in the desert wars — but they were few and far between.
Few enough that we didn’t need any specialized equipment — we merely shot at them with our small arms.
But the vast scale of drone use in Ukraine has sent military planners back to the drawing board to develop new technology and doctrine to address this new reality.
The LAAD gunner of the future is about to get some cool new tools to play with.
We’ve all witnessed what these cheap, low-tech drones can do to infrastructure, troops in the open, and even armored vehicles in Ukraine.
