Britain says Skyhammer drone interceptor passed Jordan tests with flying colors

The UK's answer to Shahed-style attack drones was successfully tested in Jordan, and British forces are set to receive their first shipments this month. In a rare example of rapid procurement, the first tranche of Skyhammer interceptors and launchers will be delivered to the UK's armed forces in May after a multimillion-pound …

[CrazyOldCatMan]

What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

Only just got access back to the forums. Front page looks like a mess rather than the older clean look and doesn't appear to be able to revert to the old look.

Fix it please.

[Jellied Eel]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

It appears to have been fuglified. Not impressed by the new style, and it could have been an opportunity to improve it. Something I've long wanted is a feature to display articles by date, instead we have this where they're duplicated and spread around.

Would also be nice to have an article about the redesign so we could comment there.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

An article about the redesign?

That would probably generate a record number of downvotes and in Trumpistan (what was formerly the USA) you are not allowed to be negative in case it gets to the ear of the dear leader who will then sue you for $10B.

[IGotOut]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

It's a shitshow of bad UI design.

The articles are all over the place, I can't tell what I've previously visited and as for the one column , then two column, then back to one, sometimes white, sometimes grey backgrounds, font sizes that are all over the shop and some articles and leading text, some are just the title.

It's fucking horrible. It's so bad, even my local council has a better layout!

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

It appears to have been fuglified

Was there any announcement? I'm a pretty regular reader and, if something was said about it, I managed to miss it.

There's good IT change management and there's The Register change management..

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

It looks a lot like an Apple screen from before OSX. Someone is clearly taking the piss.

Just look at the images of screens. Very 1990's.

[Ken G]

Enshittification?

How much are you willing to pay for the clean plain HTML version.

[Bebu sa Ware]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

I thought it was a dodgy update to my browser - looked like CSS had gone all dyslexic or the DOM had been out on the piss.

Certainly the front page looked like an embodiment of "everything, all at once."

Have to be suspicious that some AI agent has gone "let me fix that for you" without actually asking.

[Oh Matron!]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

Someone has been vibe coding, methinks

Had to have a coffee before I found the comments button

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

Had to have a coffee before I found the comments button

First I knew it was happening when the forum comment I was trying to post returned a dead link. And going to the front page showed the screen-vomit. And no forum links were available on any of the articles I tried to read.

As website changes so it's down at the bottom, scraping the floor. Even the Ars Technica one from a few years ago was better handled - at least they told people it was happening!

[David M]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

I used to use the www.theregister.com/Week/ page, which was clean and simple, and presented articles in strict (reverse) chronological order to it was easy to keep track of which ones I'd read. That's gone completely now. Sad.

[Tim99]

Re: What the hell has happened to El. Reg?

It's Very Shouty and difficult to scan quickly. I thought it was for mobile phones, as it _{wasn't as shouty} but that's a shit-show too...

[I ain't Spartacus]

"A rare case of rapid procurement"

The article then goes on to list all of the following rapidly procured systems:

ORCUS detects and classifies threats using radar, radio frequency sensors, and thermal imaging. NINJA can interfere with drone radio communications, while Rapid Sentry is a short-range air defense system that fires Martlet missiles.

If Skyhammer really is as cheap as £20k, and I've seen suggestions that this figure is more a promise for future price than a current one, then it's already bloody cheap. Bearing in mind that something like Starstreak is a man-portable SAM and only has a 5km range (it can also be fired from Rapid Sentry by the way - as well as Martlet) - and that costs £80-£100k. So a quarter the price for something with 3 times the range is pretty impressive - although I doubt it can manage the same height and it's not capable of mach 4 either.

Skyhammer is sitting in a space somewhere between a drone and a missile - their next version is supposed to be rocket powered - but using some of the simpler drone tech for targetting and controls. At which point, I start to wonder about the economics. The idea of drones is to be cheap and disposable. The idea of missiles is to be expensive and long-lasting - something that can sit in a warehouse for ten years, then be issued to a unit - humped around the countryside for a few months - then work first time, every time, with 90% accuracy.

There must be some sort of financial cut-off where drones are the right answer, and have to be used within a year or so, but for longer term stockpiles you want something that's a bit more tested. At least drones will be great for unit training, because you'll have loads of spare ammo for exercising with. And at the moment there's plenty of demand in the Middle East and Ukraine.

[EvilDrSmith]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

Yup (in fact for all you said really) - Skyhammer and Starstreak have different targets.

Skyhammer appears to be designed for small, fast-subsonic targets that fly relatively straight and level, and have no significant defense systems. Also, the target is relatively flimsily, so a small blast/fragmentation warhead should be adequate. If people start sticking jamming systems on drones, the drones will start getting more expensive, so lose the cheapness advantage they have over conventional cruise missiles - the boundary between the two is already getting pretty blurred.

Starstreak is designed to kill (potentially) supersonic fixed wing manned aircraft, equipped with warning systems, jammers and decoys - in practice, at low level they are also likely to only be fast-subsonic.

However, they are likely to be manoeuvring vigorously, and the airframe is much tougher. Hence three separate ~1kg darts travelling at Mach 4 with laser homing.

Also anti-attack helicopter role, which targets tend to be a fair bit slower, but can include armour and other survivability aids, and which can lurk behind terrain and pop up to attack, where the high speed of Starstreak is designed to get to the target before it drops back into cover.

Higher spec target, so higher spec (and more expensive) missile.

[Jellied Eel]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

Also, the target is relatively flimsily, so a small blast/fragmentation warhead should be adequate.

Curious if the flimsiness could be an advantage, ie Geran/Shahed seem to be mostly foamcore and fairly resistant to damage.

If people start sticking jamming systems on drones, the drones will start getting more expensive, so lose the cheapness advantage they have over conventional cruise missiles - the boundary between the two is already getting pretty blurred.

Already being done I think in Ukraine, ie jamming drones mixed in with Russia's swarms. Then how much there is in a Skyhammer that might be jammable. Which I guess is also a blurring thing. So when Patriots were first fielded in.. 1981, you couldn't get a guidance SoC with GPS, INS and gyros so a missile knows where it both is and isn't for <$50 and charging $1m+ for a missile was somewhat justifiable. Now, the prices for interceptors and other 'smart' munitions is much harder to justify, especially if double-tapping $2m+ worth of missiles vs a <$50k drone gives a 30% or lower hit probability. Plus very expensive cruise missiles are effectively drones anyway.

Also a bit curious how much other missile/drone guidance costs have fallen. Back in the Cold War days, things like cameras, RADAR and LIDAR modules were expensive, now they're not, plus of course the CPU/GPU/DSP brains to process data from sensors has also gotten a lot cheaper.. But that's why the drone threat has become so serious because pretty much anyone who can build an RC aircraft or boat can now create their own 'smart' missiles.

[Jellied Eel]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

So a quarter the price for something with 3 times the range is pretty impressive - although I doubt it can manage the same height and it's not capable of mach 4 either.

I think it's horses for courses, and Skyhammer is likely to be more effective than yeeting an unsuspecting 400kg horse at a drone. But I digress. If the proposed targets are the typical drones that are being used in Ukraine & from Iran, then they're subsonic and often quoted as being slower than Skyhammer, especially older piston engined drones. Newer Shahed & Gerans have turbojets, but are larger & heavier, so presumably slower than Skyhammer and much the same altitude limits. Russia did modify their Geran's to fly higher to avoid some of Ukraine's GBAD, and presumably those mods were shared with Iran, China and probably DPRK.

There must be some sort of financial cut-off where drones are the right answer, and have to be used within a year or so, but for longer term stockpiles you want something that's a bit more tested

Yup. I guess in a strict sense, if Skyhammer costs less than the target it's protecting, then it's a good investment. Rest I guess would be part of MIL-speccing it. Drones and missiles have battery challenges, so need maintenance. If Skyhammer stays as a turbojet, then it'll need to be fuelled + batteries. Plus we could presumably make 'cheap' Pantsir-style vehicles, so a truck with a mix of Starhammer and Starstreak, plus a detection vehicle that doesn't cost the $1bn a Patriot system costs.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

Jellied Eel,

I agree. Skyhammer will be fine for dealing with Shaheds / Gerans fired towards it. I doubt it'll do much to catch up with them, if off their target track. Though it's tube-launched - so quite easy to scatter small fire teams about the place - on probable routes.

The Navy have just announced they want a long range area defence drone for C-UAS work - something with a 50-100km range. So Starhammer - the solid rocket version would sound perfect for that. If we also finish off the Sky Sabre upgrade with Poland, then we'll have CAMM-MR with a range of about 100km as the mid-price SAM, both Navy and Army operate CAMM already, the Navy will have Aster 30 (Sea Viper) for the truly long-range work - even better if we could buy some SAMP/T batteries - then both Army and Navy would have a full suite of air defence. Well no equivalent to THAAD / SM6 / Arrow 3 for IRBMs and ICBMs - but for that kind of money I think we might be better off spending the cash on offensive missiles and the RAF to deter or counter threats at source.

As for a cheap Pantsir style vehicle, I'd agree. We have Stormer, but that's due to be retired soon. And it's missile only. We gave a bunch to Ukraine, and those are being replaced by the Rapid Ranger turret on VAMTAC (Spanish HUMVEE equivalent). Which is also been supplied to Ukraine, in large numbers. That's just an automatic turret for Starstreak and Martlet. Would probably also benefit from integration with Octopus and/or Skyhammer (and Starhammer when it turns up). This is another quick procurement, that the article suggesed doesn't happen.

Finally there's an MoD project to replace all of Stormer. There are rumours of a gun, but no information, from a quick Google. Though it'll definitely have Starstreak and Martlet. I think we need an armoured, tracked version, to protect frontline units. And many more truck-mounted ones for defence.

[Jellied Eel]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

The Navy have just announced they want a long range area defence drone for C-UAS work - something with a 50-100km range. So Starhammer - the solid rocket version would sound perfect for that.

Not sure it would. Biggest advantage with rockets is thrust, disadvantage is burn time. So a rocket propelled Starhammer might get there faster, but also complicates controlling it. Kinda curious if Starhammer's pop-out wings can be moved in flight, otherwise it doesn't appear to have much in the way of control surfaces. But I guess the issue is having a decent engagement envelope, so..

700kmh= 11.6km a minute, 100km= 8.5m or so to engage and hopefully destroy an incoming drone.. But then 100km also means more complicated and expensive FCS to detect something with a low RCS heading our way. Plus I guess a combi-option could work, ie an SRB that could burn for a few seconds & then detach and the jet takes over. Geran & Shaheds seem to do that for their launch anyway.

.. but for that kind of money I think we might be better off spending the cash on offensive missiles and the RAF to deter or counter threats at source.

I think we need both. So Israel has to counter low-tech threats, which have been a truck parks somewhere, sets up a crude launch ramp pointed in their general direction, then a crude missile plonked on the rails, hostiles light the blue touch paper and flee. Then Israel bombs a few planks or bent rebar, but the missile has already flown. And countering the threat doesn't, and just creates more martyrs. Drones make the situation a whole lot worse given they can be transported and launched from pretty much anywhere. And the 'brains' of the operation could be far away from the launch site, and they're the ones we probably want to eliminate.. Which also has some political challenges, like the drone pilots might be sitting in an apartment building somewhere.

Finally there's an MoD project to replace all of Stormer. There are rumours of a gun, but no information, from a quick Google. Though it'll definitely have Starstreak and Martlet. I think we need an armoured, tracked version, to protect frontline units. And many more truck-mounted ones for defence.

Yep. During Vietnam the US fitted a quad-M2 turret to patrol boats. Quantity of lead has a quality all of its own, although sitting in the middle of 4x heavy machine guns must have been an interesting way to check for loose fillings. We can avoid some of that and non-service related hearing loss with RWS though. But there'd still be the challenge of fall-off. For the Navy doing fleet or convoy protection, if the guns are firing in the general direction of Yemen or Iran, then they're hostile, so it's mostly fine. Shooting at drones in friendly, densely populated areas is a bit more challenging.. Which is a Ukraine issue when falling debris hits civilians. T'other issue is picking a standarised calibre and then being able to churn out ammunition by the millions, which gets more complicated and expensive if they're say, 20 or 30mm rounds with fuses.

Plus there'd still be a debris issue, so Russia turned Gerans into dive bombers, so guns might hit a diving drone or missile, but still leave a viable warhead and fuel load coming down in roughly the same area it was being aimed at.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

Jellied Eel,

The 100km (ish) Navy requirement isn't about defending the launching ship. It's about giving ships area air defence capability at a sensible cost. It may not be deployable on the non-specialist air-defence ships anyway - as they may not have the radar capability at that range. If the drone is flying at wave-top height though - then no radar 100km away can see it, due to the horizon.

But if you give them an aerial radar - on something like the Royal Navy's Peregrine half-size drone helicopter - or rather than radar you might use IRST (infra-red search and track) and existing noise triangulation systems, then you can remotely target for the missile. In which case we're about good missiles for difficult threats and cheap ones for cheap threats. Although, at that point, Martlet (or even Skyhammer) fired from the helicopter itself might do just as well?

[Jellied Eel]

Re: "A rare case of rapid procurement"

The 100km (ish) Navy requirement isn't about defending the launching ship. It's about giving ships area air defence capability at a sensible cost. It may not be deployable on the non-specialist air-defence ships anyway - as they may not have the radar capability at that range. If the drone is flying at wave-top height though - then no radar 100km away can see it, due to the horizon.

But if you give them an aerial radar - on something like the Royal Navy's Peregrine half-size drone helicopter

Yep. For the Navy, there's some joined-up thinking and dis-jointed articles, ie this one-

https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2026/05/03/future_royal_navy_drones_high_tech/

So the Navy having the flexibility to conduct all the missions politicians give them, which they're expected to conduct without giving them enough ships. And then getting the best bang for the buck. Which goes back to WW2 thinking and developments. Which were much the same challenges as today, so self-defence for warships, offfensive capability to hunt enemy warships and convoy defence. Which then lead to churning out 'cheap' ships like this one-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_O

I mean her origin story-

The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic

But today, thanks to defence cuts, the Royal Navy is down to-

As of December 2025 there are six Type 45 destroyers and seven Type 23 frigates in commission

Which isn't exactly a lot given all the RN's duties. Starmer can announce that the UK will re-open the Strait of Hormuz, which is easy.. Until it gets to the practical details like 'how?'. Starmer may not be long for this world pending the outcome of today's elections, but then he'll be replaced by someone who may be equally incompetent. Like Ed Millibrain, who'll decarbonise the Navy by giving them sailing ships again. But things are probably going to kick off again with Israel v Iran in the Gulf, which will probably mean the Houthis join in and close the Red Sea, which spreads the Navy rather thin in both offence and defence.

So then perhaps a new River Class that looks rather like a small container ship, but those can contain a lot of Skyhammers.. Especially if Skyhammers can be stacked two or three deep in a 40' box that's very easy to load & unload, or reconfigure with more/less containers for the job in hand. And could also containerise an RWS with err.. very long ammunition belts, pop-up radar etc. And then the cargo ship could have a small crew, perhaps inside an armoured citadel and drones controlled by remote personnel or <cough> AI. But they could also carry a lot more Peregrines that could be crammed into a Type-45, 23 or 26. New-River Class could then act as picket ships for warships, or merchant ships.

So then less need to try and make a 100km drone for defence, because the picket ships can be closer to whatever they're protecting. Plus there are drones for every occasion, eg-

https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/uncrewed-air-systems

With drones like their Phasa flying >60,000 feet and being solar powered to keep Millibrain happy. Or just loiter and shadow a convoy for its duration. No idea if its sensors could detect hostile drones, or its solar panels provide enough juice for a radar that can.. But flies high enough to be out of most missile ranges. Slight snag would be night time of course.

But we live in interesting times. I think the biggest decision is whether the Navy tries to cram more stuff into existing/planned warships, or goes with the picket ship approach. Has political potential, ie a cargo based picket is cheap, easy to build and would give UK shipyards things to do. Plus if we ever end up in an actual preace-time condition, having more container ships for the RFA is a GoodThing(tm) given logistics wins wars. Or SMOs. Or whatever the US/Israel/Iran thing is defined as.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: plus a detection vehicle

A good start would be a Toyota HiLux pickup. They seem to be in use by the terrorists everywhere and are battle proven but the Military procurement bods will want a custom thing that is not based upon an existing vehicle which would cost millions (plus a few brown envelopes passed to the right people) and 5 years to develop a prototype that will breakdown all the time.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: plus a detection vehicle

Steve Davies 3,

but the Military procurement bods will want a custom thing that is not based upon an existing vehicle which would cost millions (plus a few brown envelopes passed to the right people)

Do you remember why we replaced the Land Rovers in Afghanistan? Was it:

a) Brown envelopes

b) Large numbers of troops being killed or greviously injured by mines and IEDs?

Place bets now!

Even a few seconds of thought ought to tell you that other people have already thought about this issue - and that they may have come to different conclusions for actual reasons. Sometimes ones you can't know, sometimes obscure ones and sometimes bleedin' obvious ones.

British forces did in fact make a COTS purchase, in the Land Rover. For decades, in fact. Obviously they picked a British one, even after Toyota had stolen Land Rover's crown as the best light off-roader. But they changed their minds when forced to by circumstances.

[Like a badger]

Re: plus a detection vehicle

On a slight tangent, the Hilux pickup and gun combo is in fact a drone weapon in its own right for those who currently deploy them.

Consider these as military assets from the perspective of the planners at AQ & Partners: The Hilux units are autonomous, cheap, entirely disposable, and all on a one way trip to destiny. This is not altered by the fact that each unit relies on a couple of dim bulb meatsacks to do what sensible people do with chips, sensors, and servos.

[Ken G]

Cheaper and lighter

Some interesting work being done by Frankenburg Technologies from Estonia on circa €2K anti-drone missiles.

[EnviableOne]

Some great work is being done in Ukraine on quadcopter interceptors for the Shaheds

https://www.unmannedairspace.info/counter-uas-systems-and-policies/assessing-the-range-of-ukrainian-shahed-interceptors-and-their-capabilities/

Averaging around $2k, and some were actually made in the UK