[TheWarZone] The growing threat of surveillance and even attacks by drones are pushing the richest among us to equip their yachts with counter-drone tech.
While aerial drone attacks on maritime vessels have thus far focused on commercial and naval ships, there is growing concern that quarter-billion dollar-plus superyachts, and the VIPs who own and cruise in them, may be vulnerable.
Similar small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) used by ambitious paparazzi to photograph the vessels and people of the superyacht scene for more than a decade have proven deadly when weaponized in Ukraine and elsewhere, as The War Zone has frequently chronicled.
This reality has created a small, but growing market for counter-UAS (CUAS) systems for superyachts. Over the last five years, a number of firms have begun to offer CUAS capabilities for ultra-luxury vessels, including London/Monaco-based MARSS, which recently completed the installation of its NiDAR CUAS system on an undisclosed 400-foot (120m) superyacht and its 230-foot (70m) “support vessel.”
The installation cost approximately $4M and builds upon four previous NiDAR systems integrated by the company on new-build and existing superyachts in 2023. As costly as such systems are, a small but increasing number of owners figure they’re worth it.
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