Recent U.S. Developments in Anti-UAV Systems

As one of the world’s pioneers in the field of drone countermeasures, SOBO Group, in addition to providing products to customers, has been maintaining communication and cooperation with Friends. In the following, we will introduce the development of U.S. friendlies in anti-UAV systems.

In 2007, the U.S. company Alliant Technical Systems (ATK) demonstrated two novel new concepts of anti-UAV weapons: ① Rapid Capture and Disablement of Uavs (RAP-CAP: Rapid Capture and disablement of Uavs) is a munition that is fired from a gun and adopts infrared guidance, and explodes when it approaches the UAV it explodes, ejecting a high-performance net and rapidly expanding foam. The foam will wrap the UAV, while ionized split conductive carbon particles disable the UAV’s communication equipment, thus achieving the goal of dealing with the UAV without resorting to physical destruction. According to reports, the RAP-CAP system is a breakthrough in terms of non-lethal capabilities, which will enable the U.S. military to accurately capture enemy drones and their payloads, thus obtaining relevant intelligence on the enemy. At the same time, there is little likelihood of collateral damage when a foam-wrapped drone crashes to the ground. This is especially important when fighting in urban areas where civilians congregate. ② A new concept of anti-drone weapon that uses high-energy lasers similar to the photon “torpedoes” used in the Star Wars program to shoot down drones. The weapon is said to work differently than traditional high-energy laser launchers.

The U.S. military began developing an anti-drone strategy in 2012, with plans to design and build an effective air defense system that can quickly respond to drones. The U.S. military conducts annual anti-drone exercises (e.g., Black Javelin, involving F-22 and Predator drones).

In 2015, Loma unveiled a new ground-based system for detecting and countering drones, ICARUS, designed to detect, identify, and intercept drones through an array of sensors and cyber tools. The system tracks drone trajectories through passive imaging, sonar, and RF sensors that identify targets based on type and model. The system is said to deploy non-kinetic cyber payloads to destroy the UAV’s on-board camera, expel the UAV from relevant airspace, or render the UAV uncontrollable. The system has already been tested and demonstrated. Loma also plans to improve the Army’s TPQ-53 Fire Countermeasures Radar for deployment in 2018 to provide an anti-drone capability.

In July 2015, the Venom (VenOM) anti-UAV system developed by NORG was validated. During the validation, VenOM received “transition cue” messages and locked onto and tracked low-flying UAVs, providing precise target coordinates for fire support and demonstrating its ability to identify and track small UAS. Boeing has developed a number of anti-drone laser weapons, and in August 2015, Boeing demonstrated the anti-drone capability of the Compact Laser Weapon System, which utilizes a laser beam to shoot down a drone.

DARPA has launched a new Counter-UAS and Force Protection (CFP) program with a FY 2017 budget of $9 million, which will examine the ability to detect, track, and destroy small drones, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank munitions, and other threats. DARPA also launched the AeRIal DRaGnet PRO-GRaM program to overcome the technical challenges of monitoring small drones in urban areas. Butler is developing a third-generation Drone Defender anti-drone system, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

The system stops drones in flight by jamming the C2 or GPS signals of adversary drones. The U.S. Army initiated the Expanded Area Defense and Survivability (EAPS) program based on Counter-Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) to advance research on anti-drone systems, and two successful tests were conducted in 2015, demonstrating that the artillery technology used in the EAPS program already possessed an anti-drone capability. The system is said to use a precision tracking radar interferometer as a sensor, a fire-control computer, and a radio frequency transmitter and receiver to deliver projectiles into a target “basket”. This area protection system tracks the incoming threat and the interceptor, and then makes appropriate ballistic corrections to the interceptor to maximize mission success. The thrusters on the interceptor/projectile are responsible for trajectory corrections; the ground station receives downlinked evaluation data while uploading maneuver and detonation commands; the interceptor receives the commands and calculates the roll attitude orientation, the time required to execute the thrusters, and the combat section detonation; the combat section has a tantalum-tungsten alloy liner that creates a forward-propelled, obtruding projectile that is used to shoot down the target, and the combat section has a steel-bodied breaching fragment that counteracts the UAVs. On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Army demonstrated shooting down a drone with the Cyber Rifle. The rifle utilizes existing information and commercial technologies and consists of a pair of antennas, WI-FI radios, and an inexpensive Raspberry Pi (RaSPBeRRyPI) computer.

The U.S. Army is reportedly working to develop a “game-changing” capability that can effectively counter commercial drones in a cost-effective manner, called the Counter-Mobile Integrated Capability (CMIC). In response to the growing threat of unmanned systems, the U.S. Navy has continued to focus on the indigenously-developed Spike missile program, which has progressed from its first test firing more than a decade ago to a tail-folding demonstration verification test in 2015.In December 2016, the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Distribution ( NAWCWD) tested the SPIke miniature lightweight precision-guided missile’s ability to intercept an airborne drone at China Lake, California.

During the test, the SPIke missile program team twice validated the missile’s ability to hit an illicit drone.The SPIke missile is a multi-mission system that can be ground, air-launched, shoulder-fired, and has a mass of 2.26kG to counter emerging threats that other weapons cannot address, such as swarming unmanned system threats. The U.S. Air Force is also seeking anti-drone technology. According to the USAF’s January 2016 call for information, the USAF is seeking three types of systems to combat small drones, including detection, identification, and strike systems, with a particular emphasis on destroying aircraft.

Advances in drone technology are also facilitating the advancement of anti-drone systems, and the two are like a spear and a shield. SOBO Group has been in the field of anti-drone for more than twenty years, and has rich experience in various anti-drone application scenarios, you are welcome to contact us, we will give you the most professional support.