Counter-Drone Urgency Spurs Military Action
The U.S. Army recently closed airspace near El Paso for a live-fire test, highlighting the urgent military need to field effective counter-drone systems. The push extends to protecting civilian assets, with DARPA and Raytheon piloting towed drone defense platforms to protect commercial shipping from attack. The developments reflect a broader push by the Pentagon to adopt modular and upgradable counter-autonomy technology in response to rapidly evolving threats.
- The recent airspace closure near El Paso was prompted by the deployment of a 20-kilowatt laser weapon, reportedly AeroVironment's LOCUST system, which is part of the Army's Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser prototyping effort. The incident exposed a lack of coordination between the Pentagon and the FAA on employing such systems near civilian areas. - A primary U.S. Army counter-drone platform is the Low, slow, small-unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System (LIDS), which pairs Raytheon's Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS) for detection with its Coyote effectors. The Coyote portfolio includes the kinetic (explosive) Block 2 and the non-kinetic, recoverable Block 3 designed to disable drone swarms. - The Army’s broader modernization effort includes the Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2, a mobile system to counter drones, cruise missiles, and mortars. Dynetics holds a contract worth up to $4.1 billion for the production of IFPC launchers, which will be integrated into the Army's overarching Integrated Battle Command System. - The DARPA initiative to protect shipping is named the "Pulling Guard" program, and it specifically aims to counter threats like unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). The system architecture involves a semi-autonomous towed platform that deploys a tethered drone equipped with electro-optical and infrared sensors, allowing a single remote operator to monitor threats. - The Pentagon's push for upgradable technology is formalized through the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA), a technical and business strategy required by law for all major defense acquisition programs. MOSA aims to enforce the use of common interfaces, allowing the military to competitively source and rapidly replace individual components from different vendors. - To accelerate this modular approach, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) issued a solicitation for a Containerized Autonomous Drone Delivery System (CADDS). The program seeks solutions that automate the launch, recovery, and refitting of various unmanned aircraft from transportable containers with minimal human intervention. - The Army is also pursuing non-kinetic solutions beyond interceptors, awarding a $66.1 million contract to Epirus in 2023 to deliver four prototypes of its Leonidas high-powered microwave (HPM) system for testing as part of the IFPC architecture.
