One layered defense against drones and missiles

Will warships need separate air-defense systems for slow drones and fast missiles?

An integrated layered defence can cover both threats, using weapons appropriate to the target and the ship's operating environment.

Weapons able to defeat fast missiles can usually engage slow drones, allowing both threats to sit within one integrated layered defence. Fitting several gun calibres creates a separate procurement argument. Governments expecting long-range operations in the Atlantic or Pacific may struggle to see why a ship needs both 76 mm and 5-inch weapons, even though smaller shells cannot simply replace the larger gun's bombardment effect through aggregate fire. A 6-inch gun could make the difference in roles easier to demonstrate. More 40 mm weapons are expected, while Zumwalt's abandoned 57 mm secondary battery supplies an example of a decision being reconsidered. Italy can make a more immediate case for multiple gun layers through the confined threat environment of the Adriatic.