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10 Aug 23. Shield AI Collaborates with Sentient Vision Systems to Offer AI-Enabled Wide Area Motion Imagery Capability. Shield AI, an American defense technology company building the world’s best AI pilot, and Sentient Vision Systems (Sentient), an Australia-based leader in AI-enabled passive wide area search, are pleased to announce a strategic collaboration aimed at delivering a wide area motion imagery (WAMI) solution for Department of Defense (DoD), Australian Defense Forces (ADF) and other international customers.
The companies will jointly develop and integrate a ViDAR-enabled, wide-area-search capability onto Shield AI’s V-BAT unmanned aircraft, which will enable Shield AI’s V-BAT to intelligently classify, track, and read-and-react to targets in dynamic missions. Shield AI plans to fly the capability on V-BAT next year.
“This work with our Australian partner, Sentient, is a unique opportunity to fuse the innovation prowess of two companies from allied countries on opposite sides of the world. Together, we are shaping the future of defense technology,” said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s President, Co-founder, and former U.S. Navy SEAL.
ViDAR is Sentient’s AI system, which uses an Electro-Optic or Infrared (EO/IR) sensor to detect and classify targets in the imagery stream that would be invisible to a human operator or to a conventional radar. With these enhanced capabilities, V-BAT will be even more proficient in executing the most challenging missions, offering a level of capability that significantly bolsters threat deterrence, thereby reinforcing international peace and security.
“Sentient is excited and proud to be working with Shield AI on this truly breakthrough solution,” said Mark Palmer, Sentient’s Chief Technology Officer. “We look forward to combining the AI expertise and operational understanding of our two great teams to deliver superior ISR capabilities for today’s rapidly changing defense and security environment.”
About Shield AI
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world’s best AI pilot. Its AI pilot, Hivemind, has flown a fighter jet (F-16), a vertical takeoff and landing drone (V-BAT), and a quadcopter (Nova). The company has offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington DC and abroad. Shield AI’s products and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
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About Sentient Vision Systems
Sentient Vision Systems specializes in passive, modular optical sensors for persistent, wide area motion imagery. Sentient’s artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled edge solutions better detect and identify small objects in real time, on land and at sea. With more than 20 years of development in moving target indication, AI computer vision and machine learning, Sentient has deployed thousands of systems worldwide in the field of Intelligence, Surveillance, Search and Rescue, enhancing situational awareness, accelerating informed decisions, and saved numerous lives. For more information, visit www.sentientvision.com. Follow Sentient on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
09 Aug 23. Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY, www.mrcy.com), a technology company that delivers processing power for the most demanding aerospace and defense missions, today announced it has completed delivery of the processing hardware for the U.S. Army’s first six Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) radars, being built by Raytheon, an RTX business.
LTAMDS is the Army’s newest air and missile defense sensor that will operate on the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense network. LTAMDS is a 360-degree, Active Electronically Scanned Array radar that provides significantly more capacity and capability against the wide range of advanced lower-tier threats, including hypersonic missiles.
Mercury has provided radar processing systems to Raytheon for Patriot® radars since 2009. In 2019, Raytheon was chosen by the Army to deliver the first six LTAMDS radars, and Raytheon tapped Mercury to develop an expanded suite of advanced electronic systems that included the radar processing platform, the beamforming platform, ethernet switching hardware, and high-power amplifiers for the antenna array. In May, Mercury delivered the last of more than 160 hardware units that fulfilled its obligations under the proof of manufacturing contract.
“We are extraordinarily proud to meet our initial commitments to the LTAMDS program, which will play an enormous role in the safety and security of the United States and our allies for years to come,” said Mitch Stevison, EVP and President of Mercury’s of Mission Systems division. “The leading-edge processing technologies we pioneered for this program represent a major step forward for integrated air and missile defense.”
Mercury envisions, creates, and delivers innovative technology solutions purpose-built to meet its customers’ most pressing high-tech needs. For more information, visit mrcy.com.
09 Aug 23. Australia tests Boxers for C-UAS capability. The Australian Army has tested its Boxer 8×8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRVs) for counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) capability that can detect and stop or redirect a UAS. The Boxer CRV “surveilled Objective Otter” during Exercise ‘Talisman Sabre’ 2023 – held between late July and early August – as the “eyes and ears” of the 1st Australian Division, the Australian Army said in a press release on 8 August. Brigadier Michael Say, commander of the Australian Army’s 7th Brigade, said the service tested the Boxer’s “target acquisition systems to shoot down UASs loitering in the sky”. The Australian Army is procuring 211 Boxers from Rheinmetall Defence Australia (RDA) under a USD5.2bin contract signed in 2018 as a part of the Land 400 Phase 2 programme. (Source: Janes)
08 Aug 23. Maintaining lasers for counter-drone protection can be a struggle in remote locations: Officials. The US Army has discovered a new obstacle in its quest to use high-energy lasers to defend soldiers and installations against the growing threat of drones: some of the systems have proved difficult to maintain in remote locations.
“Lasers are complicated. This is not a Humvee that’s sitting in the motor pool,” Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, the head of US Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, told reporters here in Huntsville, Ala. “Many of the some of the main [laser] components… you’re not going to have a supply room or maintenance office full of repair parts. Those are going to be ones that are going to have to be built out.”
Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, the director of the Joint Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems Office, agreed. He told an audience here that of lasers as counter-drone systems, from a “training perspective and an organization perspective, things are proceeding relatively quickly… But it’s the sustaining aspect that we have to do better if we want to scale this across the force.”
To date, the Army has sent 10 kilowatt high-energy lasers to Africa Command (AFRICOM), Central Command (CENTCOM) and Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) for operational assessments, with plans to send a 20-kW platform to CENTCOM, Gainey said.
Gainey said, for instance, “We’ve had three or four systems in the AFRICOM [area of responsibility] and essentially it takes three to make one. [It’s] a consistent challenge.”
Karbler said that when the lasers stop working in spots like inside the AFRICOM, acquiring spare parts and finding someone with skills to fix it is a challenge.
Beyond The Pew
Russian and Ukrainian militaries reliance on aerial drones to attack targets is shaping the US Army’s approach to develop a layered architecture to down the threats, and that goes beyond high-energy lasers to include high-powered microwaves and a host of kinetic weapons.
“The Russians attacking multiple targets, aside from just military targets, should cause everybody cause for concern, because you can get missile defense, at every single thing that could be attacked and the Russians attacking every target out there,” Karbler said.
In addition to continuing to field cUAS systems already in the inventory, Gainey’s team has been testing out newer systems at various demonstrations, including one in June at Yuma Proving Ground where the Army tested five companies’ solutions against single, Group 3 (up to 1,320 pounds) one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, also known as suicide drones. In June 2024, the service will conduct the fifth such demo, and this time will focus on technology to down drone swarms, according to a slide Gainey showed the audience.
“Whether it’s flying multiple group 3 [UAS] to try to overwhelm our operators and our capabilities, or is it a swarm attack where you have several hundreds of quadcopters essentially overwhelming your radars or sensors” is one threat set the service needs to address, he added.
(Source: glstrade.com/Breaking Defense.com)
09 Aug 23. US Army splits testing phase of future missile defense radar. The U.S. Army has begun developmental testing of its future missile defense radar in a new, two-phased approach, according to Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s program executive officer for missiles and space. The Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, will serve as the radar in the Army’s future Integrated Air and Missile Defense system. Congress mandated that the Army field an LTAMDS battalion of four sensors by December 2023.
The Army awarded Raytheon, an RTX company, a contract to build LTAMDS prototypes in 2019. But program officials have had to make some adjustments over the past few years in order to meet congressional requirements because of integration challenges and supply chain delays caused by COVID-19.
The Army has since made progress with the LTAMDS program, Lozano told Defense News in an interview at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium here. The service received the six required prototypes from Raytheon and completed contractor verification testing a few weeks ago, he said, adding, “That went very well.” Five of the systems are at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and the sixth remains with Raytheon at its Andover, Mass., facility for testing.
The service has now begun developmental testing, but will proceed in two waves, Lozano explained. The LTAMDS radar has three arrays; a main one and two in the back that give it the ability to see threats from 360 degrees. “Last year, when I first came on board, through some system engineering reviews, we realized that trying to do all 360 degrees of tracking was too much to take on at once,” he said.
As a result, the first year of testing will focus on the main array and the second year, in 2024, will be dedicated to full-sector capability testing, incorporating the back two arrays, Lozano said.
In order to meet congressional requirements, the Army is providing the first four LTAMDS prototypes to the formation designated as the “first unit equipped” with primary sector capability by December 2023, Lozano said. That step will provide “residual combat capability” that already “exceeds legacy radar capability,” he said.
Once the second phase of developmental testing is complete, the Army will conduct an operational assessment in the first quarter of FY25 that will lead to an Engineering and Manufacturing Development decision in FY25, a preliminary step toward eventual serial production.
The Army is also required to field three additional LTAMDS for the defense of Guam. The service plans to procure five total systems in FY24 to cover the Guam requirement; the other two will be test assets, Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief said earlier this year. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
09 Aug 23. Pentagon’s counter-drone office to demo swarm destruction in 2024. The Pentagon’s counter-drone office will focus on neutralizing swarms of unmanned aircraft in its next demonstration planned for June 2024, according to a slideshow displayed during an Aug. 8 presentation by the office’s director.
The proliferation of drones on the battlefield is rising. For example, Ukraine is losing 10,000 per month while defending itself from Russian invaders, according to the Royal United Services Institute think tank. Flooding the battlefield with a large number of drones, especially those able to fly in a coordinated fashion, is a threat the U.S. military is still trying to address.
But that will take a layered approach, Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, who leads the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, told an audience at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium.
“To get after a large amount of UAS [unmanned aerial systems], because you won’t have enough interceptors … you have to leverage the [electronic warfare] capability, the high-powered microwave,” as well as kinetic interceptors like 30mm guns, he explained.
The counter-drone office released a request for whitepapers from industry on Aug. 4, seeking demonstrations of “fixed/stationary or mobile/mounted Detect, Track, Identify, and/or Defeat (DTID) capabilities against [small UAS] Swarm systems.”
For the demonstration, the solicitation states, “a sUAS Swarm system is defined as a group of unmanned aircraft that demonstrates coordinated behavior to achieve a common objective.”
The office said earlier this year that it would select participants for the June 2024 demonstration in the late October or early November time frame.
The Pentagon created the counter-drone office in late 2019 and selected the Army to lead the organization. It is entirely focused on bringing counter-sUAS capability into the force. The office has now conducted four demonstrations: two in the spring and fall of 2021, another in the spring of 2022, and the most recent event this summer.
In the first demonstration, the office looked at low-collateral interceptors to counter small drones; in the second demonstration, it examined cheap, ground-launched and hand-held capabilities; and in the third, it evaluated high-power microwaves as well as the concept known as counter-UAS as a service.
To address the challenging threat of one-way attack drones prominently seen in Ukraine over the past year, the office most recently tackled how to defeat them in a June demonstration at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
Gainey highlighted that the U.S. military has already supplied Ukraine with counter-drone capabilities. Among the systems are an electronic warfare capability — BlueHalo’s Titan — and some low-cost interceptor options. The U.S. military has also begun to employ counter-UAS as a service. The Marine Corps has funded six sites, and U.S. Special Operations Command has “an element of this,” Gainey said. The Army will employ two sites in fiscal 2024. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
08 Aug 23. Teledyne FLIR Introduces Lepton 3.1R Radiometric Thermal Camera Module for Integrators. Teledyne FLIR, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, today announced the release of its much-anticipated Lepton 3.1R, the world’s first radiometric thermal camera
module with a 95-degree field of view (FOV), 160 x 120 resolution, and a scene dynamic range of up to 400
degrees Celsius. The 3.1R model maintains the same compact and low-power form factor that made the Lepton family of thermal camera modules the best-selling in the world for mobile, small electronics, and
uncrewed systems.
“The revolutionary Lepton was the world’s first thermal micro camera module integrated into millions of devices from ruggedized smartphones to drones,” said Mike Walters, vice president, product management,
Teledyne FLIR. “Lepton 3.1R can now propel advancements in cost-saving and lifesaving unattended products ranging from early fire monitoring of critical machinery, electrical switchgear, and data centers to
IoT products for smart factory, occupancy monitoring, smart homes, smart appliances, and even elderly care applications.”
The Lepton 3.1R is a drop-in enhancement for existing Lepton-based products. It incorporates the same visual object and space perception interface (VoSPI), inter-integrated circuit (I2C), and electrical and
mechanical form and fit as predecessor Leptons to simplify development. Furthermore, Lepton continues to be the lowest-cost focal plane array (FPA) based thermal sensor on the market.
Enhanced Thermal Radiometric Performance
All Lepton modules include unmatched thermal sensitivity of <50 mK for an uncooled micro thermal camera. Lepton features many proprietary technologies, including wafer-level detector packaging, wafer-scale microoptics, a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a low-cost, easy-to-integrate camera 1/2package. The Lepton family also includes integrated digital thermal image processing and radiometry, the
ability to provide the temperature of every pixel in the scene.
More Resources for Integrators and Developers
To help reduce development costs and shorten time to market, users can take advantage of an online Lepton integration toolbox with application notes and source code for testing on Windows, Linux, Raspberry
Pi, and BeagleBone. The Teledyne FLIR Technical Services team is available to support customers licensing MyFLIR® application software and image-enhancing multispectral dynamic imaging (MSX®) and Vivid-IR™,
helping customers reduce technical risk and maximize performance.
To learn about the entire FLIR Lepton, visit https://www.flir.com/lepton.
08 Aug 23. US Army Accepts Prototypes of the Most Advanced Version of IVAS. Last week, the Army accepted delivery of the first 20 prototypes of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System 1.2 variant. The milestone is the latest step in the process of getting the most advanced version of the situational awareness system in the hands of Soldiers.
Microsoft delivered the 20 prototypes to Project Manager Soldier Warrior, the program office within Program Executive Office Soldier responsible for overseeing the development of IVAS.
IVAS is a single platform that features an all-weather fighting goggle and a mixed reality heads-up display that integrates next-generation situational awareness tools and high-resolution simulations to provide Soldiers with improved mobility and lethality, during the day or at night. IVAS provides Soldiers with a single device to fight, rehearse and train.
“This is a really big deal for the program,” said Col. Anthony Gibbs, PM SWAR. “A little over a year ago we did an operational test with version 1.0 of the system. We learned a lot. We got a lot of good Soldier feedback. So last summer we came back and restructured the program. We took those lessons learned and all that Soldier feedback and in less than a year have what we now call version 1.2 of the system.”
Soldiers and squads will use IVAS to gain a fuller understanding of their operational environment. Its enhanced low-light and thermal sensors improve target identification. IVAS integrates with ground and air platform sensors, allowing Soldiers to see outside vehicles before dismounting into a hazardous situation. IVAS provides 3D mapping and navigation capabilities and can ingest data from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
“IVAS complements what’s currently in the Army’s inventory while expanding close combat force capabilities by leveraging the digital architecture for shared awareness and computing at the edge,” said Lt. Col. Denny Dresch, Product Manager IVAS. “IVAS provides a first-person augmented reality perspective that enables the integrating of operational data such as routes and control measures into the person’s field of view.”
The system’s embedded training tool, the Squad Immersive Virtual Trainer, also provides Soldiers objective-based scenarios and battle drills through holographic and mixed-reality imagery, giving units the flexibility to train their squads with minimal resources.
IVAS 1.2 builds and improves on the capabilities of previous versions of IVAS, IVAS 1.0 and IVAS 1.1. Specifically, IVAS 1.2 incorporates reliability upgrades, features an improved low-light sensor and introduces a new form factor with a lower profile heads-up display with a distributed counterweight for improved user interface and comfort.
IVAS 1.2 also has the capability to attach to a combat helmet with a “hinged” device to allow Soldiers to raise and lower the display, similar to traditional night vision goggles.
IVAS 1.0 and IVAS 1.1 will primarily be issued to schoolhouses and operational units for use in training to support the Army’s campaign of learning. The close combat force will receive IVAS 1.2.
“Anybody who has had IVAS on, even the early versions, knows that this is a transformative capability and really has the potential to change the way that we fight,” said Gibbs. “This new version, 1.2, we think it’s really going to hit the mark in terms of what we need to put out there for our Soldiers to give them the situational awareness and the leap-ahead capability they need to stay ahead of our peers.”
The 20 prototypes will be featured at a user assessment in August, during which two squads of Soldiers will use IVAS 1.2 to measure the system’s performance and ensure engineering efforts are on schedule and meeting design objectives. (Source: ASD Network)
05 Aug 23. Drone attacks on UK critical infrastructure “relatively small but possibly significant.”
Drone attacks on UK critical infrastructure have been added to the UK’s National Risk Register. The likelihood level is relatively small but the impact could be significant.
According to the text of the report: “The use of drones has increased significantly in recent years, both for business and pleasure purposes. UK law now dictates that registration with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is mandatory for operators of drones over 250 grams and all drones other than toys that are fitted with a camera. It is illegal to fly in an airport’s flight restriction zone unless specific permissions have been granted. There are multiple ways in which a drone could be used maliciously.
“In 2018 a sighting of a drone at Gatwick airport resulted in significant disruption to flights. Work is ongoing between various government departments, the CAA, industry, and police to maintain risk analysis and continually strengthen mitigations against future malicious drone incidents.
Scenario
“One planning scenario is based on the malicious use of a drone at an airport, which could cause disruption and safety concerns. It should be noted that drones are a novel vector to commit crimes and attacks. We actively plan for all types of potential disruption and threat that may result from negligent, criminal, or terrorist use of drones, not just that of airport disruption.
Key assumptions for this scenario
“Assumptions vary by scenario, however for the airport disruption scenario described above: It is assumed for the purposes of the assessment that the airport is operating at pre-COVID levels. The risk would not concur at the same time as another major event and the perpetrator is assumed to have malicious intent.
Response capability requirements
“Relevant capabilities will vary by scenario. For the airport disruption scenario described above: Specialised police counter-drones capabilities would be required to respond to the incident. Police work, alongside further investigative methods (for example forensic scrutiny of a downed drone), would be used to identify and apprehend malicious users.”
For more information
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1175834/2023_NATIONAL_RISK_REGISTER_NRR.pdf
(Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
04 Aug 23. India’s border force tests C-UAS system developed by DCM Shriram Industries, Skylock partnership. The collaboration between DCM Shriram Industries and Israel’s Avnon Group first announced in 2022 has moved to system tests combining Avnon’s Skylock system with DCM’s portable counter-UAV system, according to press reports from the 4th Drone International Expo 2023 in New Delhi. The partners aim to serve the Indian market by enhancing the nation’s defence capabilities against emerging threats posed by UAS.
DCM Shriram and Avnon are testing the radio frequency detector and jammer with the Indian Border Security Force (BSF).
The DCM counter-unmanned aerial system (CUAS) has ethernet-based automatic detection, tracking, identification, and neutralisation capabilities for day and night operations. The CUAS has a military grade design with shell protection level IP67 and IP66 and technology readiness level (TRL)-9, according to Jane’s. Its RF detector is “fully passive and capable of sensing the controller and the UAV, even when the UAV is on the ground. It is also fitted with a direction-finding sensor for Wi-Fi frequencies with up to 5° root mean square (RMS) accuracy. The system requires three or more RF detectors to track the operators’ geographical co-ordinates.The 9.5 kg DCM RF detector measures 0.32×0.29 m, has an azimuth coverage of 360°, and an elevation coverage of ±90° with 70 dB dynamic range. The RF detector offers a scanning frequency resolution of <100 Hz.” For more information visit: www.idrw.org; www.janes.com (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
02 Aug 23. German government selects HENSOLDT to study detect and avoid capabilities for airspace integration. Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has commissioned HENSOLDT to undertake a demonstrator study for a detect and avoid system to enable a further step towards the safe integration of drones into controlled airspace, says the company press release.
BAAINBw has drawn up requirements for an investigation into the implementation of a gradual and full-scale airspace integration of the EURODRONE. For this, a DAA system is foreseeably necessary, which is to be advanced in a gradual series development.
In the run-up to this future development of a DAA system, HENSOLDT – as a long-standing partner of the German Armed Forces in the field of radar technology – has carried out risk-minimising national and European studies regarding the conception and design of a special radar sensor system for such a DAA system. The flight test campaigns carried out and the results obtained in the course of these studies in preparation for development are already proving the functional capability.
The “detect-and-avoid radar” is one of the decisive sensors in a complex DAA system on board unmanned aerial vehicles. It supports the calculation of evasive manoeuvres for collision avoidance by detecting, classifying and forming complete tracks of approaching objects in the airspace. Due to the multifunctional design of this radar, the requirements for integrating a weather radar function will also be taken into account and a possible perspective regarding the support of a separate landing aid will be opened up.
The currently commissioned study for the DAA radar includes the investigation of the technical feasibility of such a radar for the EURODRONE project, the verification with a near-series demonstrator as well as the risk minimisation for a future series development. Since the novel “detect-and-avoid radar” is a flight- and mission-critical component, the study deals in particular with the implementation of the safety requirements and the approval strategy at national and international aviation safety authorities (EASA, LBA) as well as the military organisations (LufABw). For more information visit: www.hensoldt.de (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
04 Aug 23. MBDA and brigkAIR launch Swarm Drone Challenge. MBDA Germany and incubator brigkAIR launched the Swarm Drone Challenge at an event in Munich on 3 August. Endowed with up to EUR50,000 in prize money, the challenge is open to enthuse and stimulate drone developers, operators and suppliers worldwide and aims to promote innovation and advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Registration for the competition is open until 29 September.
The challenge will run until a final in May 2024, shortly before the ILA Berlin Airshow, with an interim qualifying round in March offering multiple information events, networking opportunities and support. Teams will be invited to showcase new drone technologies in a variety of disciplines, including resilience of communications and network flexibility. C-UAS developers are expected to pay close attention to the progress of the challenge, offering as it does an insight into fresh operational thinking and technology strategy.
“We hope that participants in the Swarm Drone Challenge will spur each other on to top performance,” said Dr Franz Glatz, brigkAIR Managing Director. “With the Challenge, we want to contribute to establishing the Manching/Ingolstadt region as one of the most innovative centres for unmanned flight in Germany and Europe. The prototypes created can later give rise to business ideas and start-ups that are promoted and located here in the region. The Swarm Drone Challenge is intended to inspire people interested in technology to remain open to new technologies, regardless of profession or industry, in order to actively shape the future of Ingolstadt as a location for innovation”. For more information: www.brigkair.digital/sdc (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
02 Aug 23. Blighter white paper tracks development of multi-mode radar and evolving threats. Blighter Surveillance Systems has published a white paper describing the evolving radar technology and the role played by multi-mode radar. According to the paper, the majority of radars on the market at present offer only a single mode of operation or apply the mode for one application directly to another application despite mismatches in target type and radar environments. However, radars are now becoming available that offer the operation of all three modes simultaneously and these multi-mode radars enable optimal performance in each of the three domains in which they operate: air, ground and water. The multi-mode radar needs to be able to handle simultaneously the complex operational needs of each unique environment:
- For ground surveillance, slow moving ground-based targets of interest need to be detected in heavily cluttered environments and amongst 100s or 1,000s of other moving objects.
- In the airspace domain, it is comparatively uncongested and while traditionally only manned aircraft have been of concern, the contemporary challenge is in detecting small unmanned aircraft while filtering out and ignoring birds.
- Over water, the dominant challenge is in the removal of sea clutter, and near the shore, especially the ability to filter out the effects of breaking waves. The modern threat of small and covert boats further adds to the challenge.
The multi-mode radar necessarily needs to point its radar beam in the direction of interest either in the air or pointing down near the land or water. The multi-mode radar needs to be able to rapidly change waveforms on the fly so that for instance it can detect small hobby drones at short range with a fast update rate, while over water, still be able to detect larger boats and ships at much greater ranges. This diversity of waveforms and the need for low-latency switching of operational modes demands that much of the core radar design is digital.
Large, military grade transportable and naval multi-mode radars have been available for decades, but it is the capability of new digital technology that has allowed the size and the cost to be reduced to affordable levels. However, it is also interesting to speculate if this the tri-mode capability would have been necessary if it were not for the recent growth in the misuse of drones. Find the white paper here: https://www.blighter.com/wp-content/uploads/multi-mode-radar-white-paper.pdf For more information visit:
www.blighter.com (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
02 Aug 23. “Taiwan to focus on developing indigenous C-UAS capabilities, responding to threat from China.”
Tron Future, prime contractor for Taiwan’s National Drone Defense programme, is predicting significant and imminent series production of indigenous C-UAS systems to counter perceived threats from China, the company announced in July.
Inspired in part by a ramp-up in the regional threat perception and governmental study of events in Ukraine in the last year or more, Taiwan has given new impetus to the programme, and to an adjacent project, the National Drone Programme, in which nine Taiwanese companies are actively pursuing drone-centric solutions.
In the counter-drone field, the thinking centres on both jamming solutions and interceptor drones. If the enemy send in “hundreds of drones all at once, we need to be able to identify them and assign missions,” said Tron Future’s CEO, Wang Yu-jiu. The company’s AESA radar-based T.Radar Pro technology is already in service with the Taiwanese army, and offers a drone detection range of up to 5km and a low 15kg system weight. At IDEX in the UAE earlier this year, Yu-jiu suggested a production rate of up to 100 counter-drone radars per month could be in prospect, according to media sources at the time.
Chinese penetration of the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone has already occurred on at least two separate occsions this year, according to government sources, and the perception is that such incursions are likely to continue. Taipei is therefore committing additional resources to the two allied programmes identified above and suggesting a focus on autonomous swarm technologies. Observers close to the National Drone Programme believe the government’s vision is to procure in excess of 3,000 military drones by mid-2024.
“This is a war of technology” said Wang.
For more information: Inspired by Ukraine war, Taiwan launches drone blitz to counter China | Tron Future 創未來科技
(Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
(Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
31 Jul 23. South Korea’s DAPA accelerates industry involvement in domestic C-UAS programmes. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is expected to hold a briefing session with local defence companies to provide input into the DAPA portable drone jammer project at the Government Complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, reports c-UAS analyst Tim De Zitter in a Linkedin post.
“DAPA recently put up a notice for the 48.5bn-won (USD37.2m) project on its procurement website as Seoul has sought to bolster anti-drone capabilities after North Korea’s drone incursions late last year,” according to the Korea Times. “Under the project, DAPA seeks to purchase the counter-drone system to be operated by the Army, the Navy and the Air Force from local companies. It will accept bids through August 8. The system is expected to be able to detect small-sized drones and neutralize them by jamming their signals.” For more information:
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/07/113_354365.html
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7091752759003107328/ (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
07 Aug 23. US C-sUAS office seeks industry whitepapers on counter-drone swarm capabilities. The Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System (C-sUAS) Office (JCO) and Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) are seeking whitepapers to identify industry interest in demonstrating fixed/stationary or mobile/mounted Detect, Track, Identify, and/or Defeat (DTID) capabilities against sUAS Swarm systems.
“For this demonstration, a sUAS Swarm system is defined as a group of unmanned aircraft that demonstrates coordinated behavior to achieve a common objective,” says the whitepaper request published on the US government tender portal. “The purpose of this RFWP is to identify potential materiel solutions that have promising technologies or approaches to DTID sUAS Swarm systems.
“Following Government evaluation of the whitepaper submissions, the Offerors that describe the most promising solution(s) may be asked for a follow on, in-person or virtual oral presentation. Following the oral presentations, selected Offerors will host the Government as they conduct an on-site analysis of the offeror’s ability to satisfy the production demands required to participate in the demonstration. Finally, Offerors may then be asked to participate in JCO’s Counter Swarm Demonstration, tentatively scheduled 03-28 June 2024. Upon completion of the demonstration, the Government may award one or more prototype projects. Prototype system(s) will be operationally field tested to inform capabilities and limitations for potential 10 USC 4022 Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) or may inform follow-on contract decisions.”
“…The overarching Government objective is to prototype near production representative, cost-effective DTID system(s) that are able to integrate with Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAADC2) systems.
“This is a competitive solicitation, seeking innovative solutions that accelerate attainment of critical technologies which include not only commercially available technologies driven by commercial or strategic investment, but also concept demonstrations, and agile development activities that can incrementally improve commercial technologies, existing Government-owned capabilities, or concepts for defense application. Both large and small businesses and academic institutions are encouraged to respond. The information provided may be used by the Department of Defense (DoD) in developing its acquisition strategy, statement of work / performance work statement, and/or statement of objectives. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted, or competition sensitive information contained in their respective responses. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with the submission of the WP or information being requested.” For more information
https://sam.gov/opp/cdd1fc0ae8a044acb2d3b398a1d3cd17/view (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
04 Aug 23. UK updates risk assessment guidance for UAS operators in the Specific category. The UK Civil Aviation Authority Safety and Airspace Regulation Group has issued a second edition of CAP 722H, describing pre-defined risk assessment for Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) operators in the Specific category. The document, UAS Specific Category Operations – Pre-defined Risk Assessment Requirements, Guidance & Policy, updates the risk assessment methodology contained within CAP 722A published in December 2022 and provides assurance explanations to the identified mitigations and administrative amendments.
It is intended to describe the concept of the Predefined Risk Assessment (PDRA) and sets out each PDRA available in the UK to UAS operators.
Read the document here: https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/2023804%20CAP722H.pdf
For more information visit: www.caa.co.uk (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
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