Late last month, the U.S. Navy published new images showing one of its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with the new Coyote anti-drone system, specifically the USS Bainbridge. This development represents an important step in renewing the air defenses of U.S. surface ships, aligning with the Navy’s plans to advance the equipping of escort vessels in the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group with these systems and the Roadrunner-M, thereby optimizing operational costs compared to the use of current defense systems.
The published images show Bainbridge operating in the Ionian Sea, between Italy and Greece. The destroyer is one of three Arleigh Burkes assigned to the Ford’s escort — alongside USS Mitscher and USS Winston S. Churchill, the latter leading the group’s air-defense role. In this context, Arleigh Burke-class ships are increasingly taking over from the retiring Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
In relation to the Coyote system in particular, we can observe that the interceptor was installed on the stern structure of the destroyer, this on its port side; located in a position close to the aft Mk 41 vertical launch system. In images previously published by the U.S. Navy, a similar system was also seen aboard the USS Winston S. Churchill itself, although this has not been the case with the USS Mitscher. According to analyses from U.S. specialized media, this could be due to the fact that the first two belong to the Flight IIA variant of the Arleigh Burke class, while the remaining one is of the older Flight I variant.
On the other hand, reviewing what is known regarding the recently installed system, we can mention that it consists of jet-powered interceptors, with an operation similar to that of a loitering munition. In that sense, it is described that it is directed toward an area where its targets are located in order to begin tracking them, and once identified, its sensors take control to guide it against the target and thus neutralize it. In addition, it is worth highlighting that each one has the capability of being reprogrammed in real time to change its tasks in the middle of combat, which provides greater flexibility to the crew to address enemy threats.
In sum, as was mentioned in the opening lines, the Coyote system is established as an alternative that allows for reducing the costs associated with the use of naval air defense systems. Put into concrete figures, an interceptor of this type would have a cost of around 100 thousand dollars, while, for example, an ESSM-type missile amounts to a figure close to 1.65 million dollars. For its part, an SM-2 Block IIIC-type missile brings that number up to 2 million dollars per unit, making more than clear the budgetary difference implied when comparing them with the new Coyotes.
Finally, it is useful to highlight that the Coyote system also has land-based variants, both mobile and fixed. The U.S. Army has already begun integrating them into its arsenal as part of the so-called Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (LIDS), even carrying out deployments in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. For its part, the U.S. Air Force also revealed through multimedia material that it has become a user of the weapon, specifically of its fixed land-based variant.
*Cover image: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Mattingly
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