QinetiQ Target Systems Canada, a division of QinetiQ, supplied Hammerhead unmanned surface vehicle targets for Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand, where they were used to simulate maritime threats during the multinational training event.
The exercise, one of the Indo-Pacific region’s largest defense drills, involved forces from the Royal Thai Navy, United States Navy, United States Army, Republic of Korea Navy, and Republic of Singapore Navy. Units practiced identifying, tracking, and neutralizing unmanned maritime targets using both naval platforms and airborne assets.
A total of 10 Hammerhead USV targets were deployed across three operational scenarios designed to evaluate allied responses to unmanned surface threats.
Simulation of Maritime Threats
The targets reproduced several attack patterns, including individual vessel engagements and coordinated swarm-style operations. In the first scenario, four Hammerhead vehicles were used to replicate fast inshore attack craft advancing toward a beachhead to simulate a hostile landing force.
The vessels were launched and retrieved at sea with assistance from the Royal Thai Navy, while land-based operators remotely controlled their movements. During the second and third scenarios, all 10 targets were deployed and directed from a Thai naval vessel.
In these phases, the Hammerhead vehicles simulated explosive-carrying unmanned surface vessels, a threat that has become more prominent in recent maritime conflicts and security incidents.
