The tests are part of a rapid effort by the U.S. government to develop an answer to small drones, which are increasingly being used by terror groups and drug cartels. The staggering demand hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of funding for research, in contrast to the relatively cheap cost of small consumer drones has already created a private economy to produce counter-drone technology for the military, involving dozens of aerospace and defense companies.
In the current fiscal year, the Defense Department is looking to spend at least $404 million on research and development and at least $83 million on procurement of counter-UAS technology, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. And other agencies, including Customs and Border Protection, are looking to capture a share of the market, raising concerns that the efforts could lead to further surveillance and militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border.
By
Theresa Hitchens on April 16, 2021 at 3:03 PM
DoD held its first demo of tech to counter small drones April 5-9, 2021 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
WASHINGTON: DoD’s joint office to counter small drones small drones will hold a second set of industry demos and looks likely to invite new participants.
“We’re keeping all options on the table,” Army Col. Greg Soulé, director of acquisition & resources at the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aerial Systems Office (JCO), told reporters today.
The first demo, held April 5-9 at Yuma Proving Ground, focused on what DoD calls Low Collateral Effects Interceptors (LCEI): systems that can be used to knock out small drones in crowded airspace or urban areas without hurting civilians, civil infrastructure or friendly troops. The three contenders were tested against lightweight Group 1 UAS, according to an Army press release.
By
Theresa Hitchens on February 02, 2021 at 2:28 PM
The Army conducted counter-drone training in Iraq in April 2020.
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon will choose a first round of industry-developed systems for shooting down small drones in early 2022, according to officials at the the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aerial Systems Office (JCO).
That initial set of capabilities is known as “Low-Collateral Effects Increment No. 1,” JCO Director Army Major Gen. Sean Gainey told reporters in a briefing today. The plan is to figure out what industry has “ready to deliver; ready to get it out to the field, pretty quickly.”
The term “low-collateral effects” refers to counter drone systems that can be employed with few negative consequences for non-enemy aircraft and electronic systems near the field of intercept. Those types of weapons are the first focus in implementing DoD’s strategy to defeat small drones, released in early January.