Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan has taken part in a live-firing training exercise off the Welsh coast that simulated multiple drone and missile attacks.
The four-day event, known as Exercise Sharpshooter, was delivered by QinetiQ in collaboration with Fleet Operational Standards and Training. The scenario placed the Type 45 destroyer in a complex threat environment designed to test its ability to detect, track and neutralise simultaneous aerial and surface threats.
The exercise combined live and simulated targets, including QinetiQ’s Banshee Whirlwind aerial drones and Hammerhead uncrewed surface vessels. Additional synthetic threats such as cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles and hostile aircraft were incorporated to increase the intensity of the scenario.
The training environment at MOD Aberporth was designed to replicate operational conditions at sea, with HMS Duncan required to respond to attacks during both day and night phases of the exercise.
During the event, the ship’s company successfully tracked and neutralised five aerial targets and destroyed two Hammerhead surface drones.
The scenario itself was developed by Inzpire, a QinetiQ-owned company focused on creating military training environments.
Will Blamey, Chief Executive, UK Defence at QinetiQ, said the exercise was intended to replicate the evolving challenges faced by modern naval forces.
“We are proud to deliver dynamic, real-life scenarios that best prepare our armed forces for the complex warfare challenges of today and tomorrow.”
“Our combination of live and synthetic threats mean we can deliver training scenarios that provide the very latest in threat representation, helping our warfighters to achieve mission-readiness at pace.”
Commander Dan Lee of the Royal Navy said the exercise provided an opportunity for the ship’s crew to test operational procedures in a realistic environment.
“The realism of Sharpshooter, particularly the engagement of dynamic moving targets using operational procedures, gave my Ship’s Company the opportunity to prove they are ready to defend, ready to fight and ready to win.”
“My team fully embraced the challenge and leave this exercise more confident, more capable and better prepared.”
QinetiQ regularly designs and delivers test and training exercises for the UK armed forces across land, air, maritime and cyber domains.
The company said similar multinational training activity took place in December when the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS Evertsen participated in a QinetiQ-run exercise aimed at improving operational alignment across NATO forces.
Ssshh don’t tell trumpy he will demand we send her to the straits of Hormuz!
When I think of defence of military KPs against Drones, I often visualise the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
What would be the issues with constructing a tall tower, much like those seen on bases, so a Sangar.
Is it really beyind the skill of DSTL to join a lightweight sensor to an automated machine gun or 3, or even a cannon of some sort, and plonk them atop the Sangar to take down Drones?
They would be manually controlled daily until attacks were happening, like a ships CIWS, at which point they could go auto.
Apart from kinetic defence, what about the other feature of Sangars, screens to prematurely detonate RPG and such, much like seen on some Armoured vehicles.
Could key buildings, radar, and such be surrounded by such screens to counter Drones?
Didn’t Duncan do this about 4 weeks ago?
Yes, this article has been posted several times, I think there’s some sort of problem with their system.