La proliferaci\u00f3n de drones, tanto extranjeros como nacionales, ha desencadenado la necesidad de encontrar medios creativos para contrarrestar los sistemas a\u00e9reos no tripulados, y una empresa de tecnolog\u00eda est\u00e1 incorporando un dron a la lucha contra los drones. Fortem Technologies, una empresa de defensa y seguridad del espacio a\u00e9reo con sede en Utah, ha desarrollado un interceptor de drones con red llamado DroneHunter F700, un arma contra UAS totalmente aut\u00f3noma y guiada por radar construida para detener los drones del Grupo 1 y los grandes del Grupo 2.<\/p>\n
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama \u2014 The proliferation of drones, both foreign and domestic, has triggered a necessity for creative means to counter unmanned aerial systems, and one tech company is bringing a drone to the drone fight.<\/p>\n
Fortem Technologies, a Utah-based airspace security and defense company, has developed a net-slinging drone interceptor called the DroneHunter F700, a fully autonomous, radar-guided counter-UAS weapon built to stop Group 1 and large Group 2 drones.<\/p>\n
The drones literally net their targets using NetGuns \u2014 modular attachments that fire rapidly expanding nets to ensnare targets. The drones can carry three types of nets aimed at different target sizes, Adam Robertson, chief technology officer and co-founder of Fortem Technologies, said at the National Defense Industrial Association\u2019s FUZE\/FFC\/DEMIL conference in September.<\/p>\n
The first two sizes \u2014 small to medium tether nets \u2014 are best for Group 1, or small, store-bought drones. The drones are trapped in a net connected to the DroneHunter by a tether, which is then used to carry the drone to a safe location where it can be analyzed. The third, larger net is called the DrogueNet, and used to capture larger, heavier drones. The net is connected to a parachute, which forces the target into a slow and predictable landing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re able to take down drones even larger than ourselves,\u201d Robertson added.<\/p>\n
The DroneHunter\u2019s larger nets can even \u201ctake down a manned aircraft,\u201d having proven effective against both fixed-wing and rotorcraft and can take out targets multiple kilometers away, he said.<\/p>\n
The system uses fixed site and onboard radars to \u201cdetect, track, pursue and classify\u201d a target, he said. The system\u2019s internal guidance has proximity sensors that allow it to shoot the nets and physically capture the drone, he added.<\/p>\n
The DroneHunter also utilizes what Robertson called \u201cAI at the edge\u201d for detection tracking in a \u201cthree-dimensional space\u201d that gets fed back into its SkyDome Manager command-and-control system. \u201cThe onboard radar can then lock onto the target. It finds it independently in that three-dimensional space [and] can lock on from hundreds of meters away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The initial detection radar uses an active electronically scanned array to detect targets and launch DroneHunters from hangars \u201chot and ready, just like Little Caesars pizza,\u201d Robertson said. \u201c[It] pops out of a box and away it goes, and it\u2019s moving 50 miles per hour within just a few seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SkyDome Manager software can also coordinate multiple, simultaneous DroneHunters to counter drone swarms where large networks of hangars are in place. The hunters themselves can autonomously choose between modes for pursuit, attack, defense or tow-away based on the nature of the rogue drone. Product information states that a \u201chuman on the loop\u201d can manually override a DroneHunter\u2019s autonomy.<\/p>\n
The need for the DroneHunter grew from a realization that \u201csmall UAS is changing warfare forever,\u201d Robertson said, pointing to Ukraine and a 2022 North Korean drone incursion over South Korea\u2019s capital as prime examples.<\/p>\n
Seoul panicked, Robertson said. \u201cThey flew helicopters, they flew F-16s, they flew jets. They tried everything they could to counter this threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident was an embarrassment, he said. \u201cHow could this happen? How could South Korea \u2026 not stop these drones?\u201d<\/p>\n
As small UAS become \u201ccompletely indispensable for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance\u201d and rapidly evolve, the United States needs to be prepared, he said. Increased levels of autonomy and AI are also happening \u201cextremely fast,\u201d and the DroneHunter is \u201cwhat we\u2019re doing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be South Korea,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be apologizing because we couldn\u2019t detect, track or take down drone threats. It\u2019s not a matter of if we\u2019re going to have a major drone incursion by a local actor or some other terrorist threat or adversary. It\u2019s only a question of when, and in what manner are we prepared for it or not?\u201d ND<\/p>\n