Air defence missiles come in relative small numbers and are pretty expensive; military aircraft,
either fix or rotary wing, combat or transport, are nowadays nearly all fitted with self-defence suites
that include sensors and effectors, the latter usually in the form of flares to cope with IR-homing
missiles. Shooting a VSHORAD missile against a target with its flare magazines still full might
mean spending a costly weapon for nothing, as flares can well defeat the incoming threat bringing it
away fro the target.
Carboteh a spinoff company of Slovenian Guardiaris, developed a non-lethal weapon that adopts a
quite revolutionary approach to air defence. Why not stimulating the attacking aircraft with a low-
cost system, obliging it to spend a good part of its flares for nothing. On the receiving end, what
pilot would risk his life not reacting to a threat, assuming it is a fake?
Not many details were provided, surprise being of course key in this type of cat-and-mouse game,
but the system called BANS, for Battlefield Anti-aircraft Non-lethal (VSHORAD) System, is
defined as a light shoulder weapon. It looks like a small rocket launcher, the operator needing only
to aim towards the incoming aircraft and squeeze the trigger. Battery powered, this ensures up to
500 simulated engagements.
Considering its size and weight and its relative cost, it can be distributed in numbers on the
battlefield, considerably reducing enemy aircraft defensive capacity. Obvious users for the BANS
are air defence units, which can put up coordinate deception plans using their C2 system, stripping
the enemy aviation of its defensive capabilities before launching the actual missile, which
probability of kill will then be considerably increased.
by Valerio del Grande