Shoot Down That UAS
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עברית (Hebrew)
U.S. Army aerial warfare experts are turning their attention to the threats of enemy attack and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and how to counter potentially hostile unmanned aircraft.
With this in mind, officials of the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are attempting to assess capabilities in the U.S. defense industry to develop enabling technologies for counter-UAV operations.
Among the Army’s primary counter-UAV research projects today, is the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) – a joint project of the Army and the Boeing Co. Directed Energy Systems segment in St. Louis – which is a truck-mounted laser weapon intended to shoot down enemy UAVs, rockets, artillery rounds, and mortars.
From the industry, Army researchers are trying to determine if current and near-term emerging technologies could support a counter-UAV capability; identify feasible counter-UAV system concepts; and estimate costs and performance.
iHLS – Israel Homeland Security
U.S. warfighters face threats now and in the future from reconnaissance and armed UAVs ranging from micro-sized to large UAV that operate with varying altitudes and speeds, Army officials point out.
According to Military & Aerospace appropriate counter-UAV enabling technologies should take into account all levels of detection, decision, and defeat. The Army’s primary counter-UAV concerns today involve command echelons at brigade and higher, as well as below the brigade – or the tactical edge – officials say.
Counter-UAV concepts should consider tactical networking between above-brigade and below-brigade command levels, officials say. Network connectivity can help detect and classify potential threats, as well as coordinate ground- and air-based countermeasures.
