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Two Sailors Injured When Drone Crashes Into US Navy Guided Missile Cruiser
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "CNN reports that two sailors were hurt when a drone malfunctioned and crashed into the Chancellorsville, a 567-foot Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, as the ship operated off the Point Mugu area of Southern California in an area where BQM-74E aerial targets are widely used. The drone was being used to test the ship's radar tracking when it malfunctioned, veered out of control and struck the cruiser. 'No sailors were seriously injured, but two sailors were treated for minor burns,' the Navy said in a statement. 'The ship remains capable of operations. However, it did sustain some damage and will return to its homeport of San Diego to have the damage assessed. The Navy is investigating the cause of the malfunction.' Chancellorsville has one of the most advanced air defense systems in the Navy, and the ship regularly tests missiles off Southern California. In late August, Chancellorsville successfully used an SM-6 missile to hit a target drone off Point Mugu. The cruiser stocks a variety of missiles, including Tomahawks."
Chancellorsville has one of the most advanced air defense systems in the Navy[...]
But it could not defend itself against a runaway drone. Very impressive.
Yeah - and I can tell you about an older missile that was quite dangerous as well.
Often times, we would fire a Tartar missile at a target. The damned thing may or may not get a lock on target in the first minute of flight. If it failed to lock, it would start searching for a target. Far, far out at sea, far beyond sport fishermen's territory, when a missile starts searching for something to kill, what is the easiest target to spot? Oh yeah - that would be US - the platform from which it was launched.
We never fired a missile without the guns manned up, ready to fire. I never kept count, but I know that I witnessed at least a half dozen of those things coming back at us.
No, we never missed a gunnery target, no matter how fast, how high, how low - we ALWAYS killed when we fired a 5" 54 caliber gun.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Exactly... by the time these boats get hit my a modern weapon, it's over. It's kind of like how Cannons made castle walls pointless.
Not at all.
Note, that it didn't sink or get disabled.