Eight counter-UAS systems — wielding a mix of radars, machineguns, missiles, jammers, and more — were tested against swarms of up to 50 drones of different types attacking simultaneously from different directions and speeds.
“It is an urgent issue. ... We need counter UAS capabilities at scale,” said Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante. “We need lots of money, we need production lines to go up fast.”
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
Counter-drone strategy was a key theme at this year's AUSA conference, ahead of an Army challenge to industry to take out dozens of UAVs at a time.
Threatened by drones that can work collaboratively and without GPS or a command link, it's important to have radars that can detect hundreds of incoming tracks so they can be defeated.
Advanced capabilities, like lasers and high-power microwave, will have to work in tandem with bullets or jamming to defeat drones threats as they evolve.
“It’s one thing to do a coordinated attack that looks like a swarm. It’s another thing to have one operator, multiple devices, some seeking, some looking for targets, some killing targets and interacting together without you pushing a button,” Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood said.
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
Half of the companies invited to participate in a counter-drone demonstration this September ended up skipping it due to COVID-19.
“We’re painting with broad strokes, but we're diving into what missions of the future will look like. The technology is not quite Star Wars, but we’re getting close,” said Jeremy Murray-Krezan, AFRL's directed energy deputy chief scientist, says.
"I think it's September you'll see us open up up the aperture, looking at other capabilities besides low collateral effects," said Stan Darbro, Army RCCTO deputy.
"Low-collateral effect interceptors" against small drones would be used in "defeating small UAS in urban environments, over sensitive sites, or situations where the rules of engagement would not allow kinetic effects," DoD's solicitation to industry says.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
In April, the Yuma, Ariz. test range will host a competition of “low collateral damage” countermeasures designed to stop mini-drones without firing a shot. But can such a restrained approach stop the drone swarms Russia and others are developing?
A parallel joint requirements document will be briefed to industry Oct. 30, Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, head of the Joint Counter Small Unmanned Aerial Systems office, says.
THOR puts high-powered microwaves to fry drone swarms' electronics in a rugged and deployable package.