Survivability & Protection

Long-endurance drones such as the MQ-9 Reaper have provided militaries with persistent surveillance and strike capabilities for decades. But future conflicts may demand something...

Autonomous drones can move quickly in open air, but cluttered environments are much harder. Buildings, trees, narrow passages and other obstacles leave little room...

Small drones have created an uncomfortable economic problem for air defense. An inexpensive UAV may cost only hundreds or a few thousand dollars, yet...

Intercepting incoming rockets is only part of the challenge facing modern air-defense systems. During prolonged attacks, the ability to maintain protection depends not just...

As more drones share the same airspace, keeping them connected becomes increasingly difficult. Unmanned aircraft may need to exchange high-resolution video, sensor information and...

Building on the achievements of previous INNOFENSE cycles, iHLS, the Ministry of Defense and MAFAT are inviting startups to apply for the program’s seventh...

Detecting a drone is becoming more difficult as unmanned aircraft become increasingly autonomous. Many counter-UAS systems look for radio signals exchanged between a drone...

Bird strikes may sound like a minor aviation hazard, but a collision at high speed can damage engines, windscreens and other critical aircraft components....

Small drones approaching ships, ports and coastal installations create a difficult defensive problem. They can fly low, arrive in numbers and cost far less...

Computer vision can help a drone recognize that it is looking at a vehicle, building or person, but recognition is not the same as...

Modern ships depend heavily on satellite navigation, creating a vulnerability when GPS and other GNSS signals are jammed, spoofed or unavailable. In a contested...

Previous INNOFENSE cycles have helped innovative technologies make the leap from civilian development to defense applications. Now, iHLS and the Ministry of Defense are...

Military forces are rapidly adding drones and robotic systems, but operating them as separate platforms creates a growing coordination problem. One aircraft may collect...

Electronic warfare equipment can help aircraft detect hostile emitters, recognize threats and protect themselves from electronic attack. The problem is that traditional EW systems...

Airport security depends on finding dangerous materials without bringing passenger movement to a halt. Liquids remain one of the most visible compromises: travelers are...

Precision artillery has become increasingly dependent on satellite navigation, creating an obvious vulnerability on battlefields saturated with electronic warfare. If an adversary jams or...

Finding a submarine beneath the ocean is one of the more difficult surveillance tasks in modern warfare. Sonar and sonobuoys can listen for underwater...

Putting more capable satellites into orbit creates opportunities for communications and other space services, but it also increases the value of the hardware that...

As armed forces deploy growing numbers of unmanned aircraft, managing them efficiently is becoming as important as the drones themselves. Controlling each aircraft individually...

Building on the success of previous cycles and the progress of participating technologies within the defense sector, iHLS and the Ministry of Defense invite...

Military systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but the person operating them still needs a practical way to control what is happening. Complex interfaces can...

Modern cybersecurity systems face a scale problem. Networks generate enormous amounts of traffic, and malicious activity may be hidden among millions of ordinary interactions....