{"id":50655,"date":"2024-04-25T18:20:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T18:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/25\/drone-killing-costs-must-come-down-says-pentagons-chief-weapons-buyer\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:43:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:43:57","slug":"drone-killing-costs-must-come-down-says-pentagons-chief-weapons-buyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2024\/04\/25\/drone-killing-costs-must-come-down-says-pentagons-chief-weapons-buyer\/","title":{"rendered":"Drone-killing costs must come down, says Pentagon\u2019s chief weapons buyer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The price tag for weapons and munitions used to destroy drones must come down, as the costs are \u201cgetting too expensive\u201d and uncrewed systems are expected to saturate battlefields, according to the Pentagon\u2019s acquisition boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. troops have for years batted down attack and reconnaissance drones, often by using pricey ordnance. Ongoing intercepts of drones launched by the Yemen-based Houthi militant group in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&#038;rls=en&#038;q=colin+demarest+red+sea+lasers&#038;ie=UTF-8&#038;oe=UTF-8\" target=\"_blank\">the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden<\/a> are reliant on multimillion-dollar missiles, among other arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bill LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said April 24 during a conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington that \u201ccost curve matters\u201d in counter-drone operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The goal is to get the cost down to approximately tens of thousands of dollars per round, he added, noting a price exceeding $100,000 a shot is \u201cgetting too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments come as overhead defenses receive overhauls and industry jostles for contracts. Militaries the world over are increasingly developing and deploying uncrewed systems with the goal of spying, supplying and attacking forces from farther away; their popularity can be seen in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\">Eastern Europe<\/a> as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/unmanned\/2024\/04\/19\/from-customer-to-sanctioned-proliferator-drones-extend-irans-reach\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Greater Middle East<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6016\" height=\"4016\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Bill LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, answers a question on stage Sept. 7, 2022, during the Defense News Conference in Pentagon City.\" class=\"wp-image-112905\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg 6016w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,684 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-LaPlante-DN-Conf-22.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6016px) 100vw, 6016px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bill LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, answers a reporter&#8217;s question Sept. 7, 2022, during the Defense News Conference. (Colin Demarest\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LaPlante said there exists equipment in the ideal cost window but did not name makers nor models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense companies have built and pitched everything from powerful lasers and microwaves to drones that ram their targets midair. The U.S. Army in February bought <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/unmanned\/uas\/2024\/02\/12\/rtx-to-supply-600-coyote-drone-interceptors-to-army\/\" target=\"_blank\">600 Coyote interceptors<\/a> from RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies, in a deal worth $75 million. Coyote devices are used in mobile and stationary setups in what\u2019s known as the Low, slow, small, unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System, or LIDS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a spreadsheet of all the counter-[unmanned aerial system technologies] that are out there, including prototypes that the labs are doing. Everybody\u2019s doing them,\u201d LaPlante said at the conference. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about some possibilities of even some counter-UAS capabilities per round that could be $10,000.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense companies have built and pitched everything from powerful lasers and microwaves to drones that ram their targets midair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":27,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,36,19,27,167],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3503],"class_list":["post-50655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AVP5PC7LRBHY7OE67NWFDY4KNI","arc_canonical_url":"\/unmanned\/uas\/2024\/04\/25\/drone-killing-costs-must-come-down-says-pentagons-chief-weapons-buyer\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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