Army fast-tracks new man-packable counter-drone EW weapons

The Army’s Rapid Equipping Force is accelerating development of EW weapons to jam and disable enemy small drone threats.

The Army is accelerating development of new electronic warfare counter-drone technology to meet fast-emerging drone threats in combat.

ISIS and other potential U.S. rivals have quickly made use of available commercial small drone technology for both reconnaissance and attacks.  U.S. forces, in turn, are seeking more elaborate and effective counter-drone measures, and are looking to electronic warfare solutions to, among other things, destroy low-flying drones.

The Army’s Rapid Equipping Force and its Program Executive Office Missile and Space are currently working with industry to evaluate developmental prototypes and available technologies to fast-track EW weapons in response to an urgent request from U.S. Central Command.

"Theater has asked for a solution, so we are looking at what we can apply as an interim solution," Col. John Lanier Ward, director Army Rapid Equipping Force, told Defense Systems.

CACI, an industry tech developer that already has several operational new EW systems, is now pioneering a man-packable weapon able to give dismounted soldiers the ability to detect, identity and destroy attack drones.

This system, called BITS Electronic Attack Module (BEAM), can lock onto the particular frequency of a nearby enemy drone and, using a handheld device, geolocate and jam or destroy the attack.

Most current EW jammers use a wider jamming signal across a range of frequencies, whereas BEAM is configured to detect a specific single frequency used by an attacking drone – a solution particularly suited for urban or more populated combat areas.

This technology was recently used to destroy small quadcopter drones during an Army-industry test at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz.

“A crude jammer might be OK in the desert. Our technology is able to discern one frequency from another. It is built to bring that signal in and match it up with what we have in our library,” CACI Senior Program Manager Jared Alazar told Defense Systems in an interview.  “If you are in an environment that already has communications systems, you do not want to jam everything and possibly take out your own communications.”

While many of the details of this technology are not available for public discussion, Alazar did say the system uses software-defined radio, RF applications and a method known as Time Distance of Arrival (TDOA).

Also, by using a more targeted and pinpointed detection technology, BEAM is able to destroy enemy drones without emitting a signal so large that it gives away the position or point of origin, said Jerry Parker, CACI's senior vice president for EW.

“With our RF-based systems we look for specific systems in the air, so we are not just tracking everything in the environment,” Alazar added. “We specifically look for drones.”

Alazar did say the system uses passive detection and does have certain mitigation techniques
which are not available for discussion. The targeted nature of the detection system advances the technology beyond most current radar detection applications, which can have difficulty identifying low-flying drones and separating them from surrounding signals, he explained.
 

When operating BEAM, soldiers use a small handheld device such as an android smartphone-like system, to identify a particular enemy drone threat. The technology is able to distinguish “blue” or friendly drones from ones that are an enemy threat, Alazar said.   

BEAM utilizes high bandwidth waveforms as part of an extendable ad hoc relay mesh network to detect a particular type of drone and determine whether there is a handset nearby.

“It uses wave relays between each backpack. We have designed the system to find these specific frequencies, and when we do a mitigation technique, it is on those specific frequencies,” he said.

CACI also has operational vehicle-mounted and forward operating base applications of the technology, some of which are already in use.

Prototypes of the vehicle or ship-mounted variant, called Mobile Autonomous Counter-UAS Exploitation (MACE), are now being assessed by both Army and Navy developers. CACI is currently hardening MACE prototypes and plans to have a deployable system by next June.

“Also, the Navy wants it for ships and the Coast Guard is looking at it for small boats for littoral defense,” Alazar said.

 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.