The UK has spoken publicly about a new air defence system, dubbed Rapid Sentry, designed to shoot down drone threats.
It is highly unusual for the UK Government to reveal any new military capability.
The ongoing air combat operations in the Middle East and the threat posed by Iranian drones has brought into focus the need for air defence systems. Now, a hitherto little-known UK capability, dubbed Rapid Sentry, has been thrust into the spotlight.
Detailed in an 18 March release from the Royal Air Force, the Rapid Sentry short-range air defence (SHORAD) system, operated by the RAF Regiment, a unit tasked specifically with the protection of air bases, appears to be designed to counter drone threats.
According to analysis, the Rapid Sentry operates the Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM), a munition also operated by the Royal Navy as the Martlet, which has a reported range of up to 8km.
Manufactured by Thales in Belfast, the LMM is designed for use against small, fast targets, and is able to reach speeds of Mach 1.5.
The LMM was also mentioned in a UK Government statement also published on 18 March, detailing an intention to acquire further stocks to supply UK forces and Middle East countries.
“Our layered system means we always have options: detect, disrupt, or defeat. Rapid Sentry gives us a credible kinetic safeguard when a drone cannot be defeated electronically,” said Air Commodore Paul Hamilton, Commandant General of the RAF Regiment, in the RAF release.
It is not certain what radar system is utilised in Rapid Sentry, although the UK is known to have ordered 11 of Saab’s Giraffe 1X 3D radars in 2023, a sensor designed to detect drone threats.
“This new capability for the UK has been procured on the basis of Giraffe 1X being the fastest and most effective solution available, with a proven capability that enjoys a high degree of confidence amongst Counter-Unmanned Air Systems (C-UAS) experts,” stated Saab at the time.
This could indicate that the RAF Regiment operates multiple Rapid Sentry air defence systems, configured with LMM missiles and the Giraffe 1X radar.
UK Government officials have in recent weeks made mention of undisclosed counter-UAS system being deployed to Cyprus, with reports that a UK unit based in Iraq also took down Iranian drones heading to a coalition base.
On 19 March, the UK MoD stated in a social media post that a ground-based counter drone unit based in “a high threat area” had intercepted “more than 10 drones”.
Interestingly, in the same original RAF release, was mention of “similar capabilities” being developed across “Nato and partner nations” to protect airbases and deployed operations.
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