The U.S. Navy has equipped guided-missile destroyers with the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group with two new interceptor-style drone systems that could signal the fleet's upcoming deployment to the Middle East.

The strike group recently finished a training exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, Stars and Stripes reported. If sent to the region this summer, the strike group will put newly adapted counterdrone weapons to the test as the Navy explores cost-friendlier alternatives to shooting down drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists that have disrupted commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Six Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers will accompany the USS Gerald Ford on its next deployment, but it is unknown how many will carry the systems, dubbed Coyote and Roadrunner.

The systems, which were modified from existing land-based technologies, are specialized drones designed to stop other drones before they reach their intended targets, according to Stars and Stripes. The new weapons are intended to counter Houthi drones for a fraction of the price of a standard missile typically used by the Navy.

"Those two systems are part of that attempt to get after the cost curve, give our commanding officers more options to engage the threat and ultimately be more effective in defending a high-value unit," Capt. Mark Lawrence, commander of Destroyer Squadron 2, told Stars and Stripes aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier trained about 100 miles off the East Coast.

One-way attack drones are one of the main weapons the Houthis have used to attack military and merchant vessels since Iranian-backed Hamas' terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's military response in the Gaza Strip.

Since November 2023, the Navy has defended against nearly 400 attacks using drones and missiles in the Red Sea, a pace that has seen U.S. ships firing back at levels comparable to World War II battles, according to Stars and Stripes. As of January, the Navy had fired 120 SM-2 missiles, priced at about $2.1 million each; 80 SM-6 missiles, at about $3.9 million each; and 20 Evolved Sea Sparrow and SM-3 missiles, which range in price from $9.6 million to $27.9 million.

Missile expenditures are likely higher because President Donald Trump on March 15 directed the U.S. to strike Houthi facilities in Yemen on an ongoing basis. The strikes will continue, the Pentagon has said, until the terrorists pledge to halt attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea.

The Coyote is a small, expendable, tube-launched drone that can be deployed from the ground, air, and ships. Defense technology company Northrop Grumman, a Coyote developer, described the drone as agile, with the ability to perform high-speed maneuvers and climb to altitudes above 50,000 feet before "pouncing" on its target at 3.5 times the speed of sound.

The Roadrunner, dubbed a "drone hunter," is a twin jet-powered autonomous air vehicle that was unveiled in late 2023 by tech company Anduril. The Roadrunner can detect, track, and engage targets at significant distances, according to the company. The system can be operated manually or autonomously.

It is not known how much the systems will cost the Navy, but Stars and Stripes reported that a similar model to the Coyote developed by Raytheon for the U.S. Army costs about $125,000 per unit.

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