TALAR for Cruise-Missile Sensor-Grid

1. Introduction (scope):

1.1 Since summer 2024 it has become patently clear that even sub-sonic cruise missiles developed decades ago, like Taurus (aka Storm-Shadow, Scalp), JASSM, Russian models vs. Ukraine, and subsonic cruise ASM (Anti-Ship Missiles) are a tremendous insofar unstoppable success   across and deep into the battlefields. This is while NATO is based on maritime supremacy.

1.2 Propeller UAV like Geranium are detected and destroyed by Vulcan-Phalanx and Gepard, yet Gepards are rare on the battlefield, which UAV haven’t caused much damage to navies, rather to civilian shipping. Lines of shooters are also effective against low-sneaking such UAV.

1.3 The result are humongous losses to terrestrial infrastructure and selective choking of the southern red-sea to western shipping. These are strategic burning defense problems.

2. Doctrine (Domain-Theory):

2.1 In order to destroy a target it must be first detected, than tracked then fired at, till it is ruined.

2.2 An interceptor missile must be launched well in advance of interception in order to lock on it, home (line of sight) at it, perform an attack maneuver - above and behind it, to actually hit it. For this purpose, Dr. Moti Shefer, who designed the Python 3 & 4 interceptor missiles, also designed the Paamon series of anti-ballistic missiles for various ranges and altitudes.

3. Causes (Problem):

3.1 The main problem is detecting these missiles during flight, because of their very low RCS (Radar Cross Section) aka stealthy nature. Observing from the ground or sea-level (e.g. a ship), an incoming missile is has a cross section of about an A4 paper, very sharply sloped due to air-flow considerations – which is also very effective in deflecting radio (radar) waves hitting it.

3.2 Outside of the north-pole and the seas, the surface of the terrain is 3D with many obscurations.

3.3 ISR Crisis

The exising Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) complex is unfit for purpose: High-altitude observers are few in between and mostly are designed either to track small targets with accurate focus, or to map terrain with granularity of several meters a pixel. This gap has just been admitted and prioritized by the US, yet cost-effective solutions still must be defined:

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/02/sensing-grid-should-be-top-priority-for-us-iron-dome-northcom-head/

3.4 Cyber security is a major hindrance in using satellites for continuous video streaming, since key-management would have to be very frequent vs. the huge load of data transferred and of known characteristics. E.g. the US DoD Iridium’s mere text-messages have just been hacked:

      https://spectrum.ieee.org/iridium-satellite

4. Remedies (Mitigations):

4.1 Dr. Moti Shefer presented many years ago how to deploy a sensor network by optical satellites, to cover all the terrestrial and maritime regions through which cruise missiles may arrive to hit.       This requires very good optics, day and night, massive real-time processing of certain amounts of real-time data, according energy-consumption, thus satellites of certain size, weight, and cost.

4.2 This document proposes to launch High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) UAV from many small ship (e.g. frigates) around North-America, Europe, the Read-Sea and the Indian Ocean. by means of TALAR (Tip Automated Launch And Recovery) suitable for up to sea-state 6.

4.3 TALAR (aka LAR-DH) represents a paradigm-shift in catching large airplanes in the air, thus can achieve the above thanks to its unique advantages:

4.3.1 Large wingspans, e.g. 18 meters, enabling dozens of hours cruise per mission.

4.3.2 Large weight, e.g. a tonne or two, carrying superb payloads of all sorts.

4.3.3 It doesn’t require any helipad, thus fitting many ship designs.

4.3.4 It doesn’t aim an untethered UAV at the ship itself.

4.3.5 Unlike mesh-landing, it doesn’t risk the propeller.

4.3.6 The same arm which retrieves the UAV from a mesh, does both Launch and aerial-recovery.

4.3.7 Confirmed by both US and Israeli Navies.

4.3.8 Low work load, thus robust and scalable.

4.3.9 Uses Paragliding, like in water-sports.

4.3.10 Successfully Field-trialed at a garage-project level.

4.3.11 Patented world-wide.

5. Conclusion:

Given the present burning strategic defense gaps of the West, focused on defense against cruise missiles on land and at sea, there seems no better way than to equip most NATO frigates with TALAR, and only then with vertical launch tubes for the interceptor missiles which can maneuver above and around their targets in order to assure converging into them thus tearing them apart.

For more details, visit the Website of the inventor and developer of LAR-DH (aka TALAR) : Aeronautical engineer Meir Yoffe: https://uav-recovery.vercel.app/