La Oficina Conjunta de Sistemas de Aeronaves No Tripuladas Peque\u00f1as del Pent\u00e1gono de los EE UU, ha concluido una demostraci\u00f3n de tecnolog\u00eda de microondas de alta potencia capaz de eliminar m\u00faltiples amenazas de drones a la vez. Tres equipos de la industria, Epirus, Raytheon Technologies y Leonardo DRS, trajeron sistemas de negaci\u00f3n a\u00e9rea con capacidades de microondas de alta potencia. Dichos sistemas se definen como una soluci\u00f3n que utiliza pulsos electromagn\u00e9ticos direccionados desde una ubicaci\u00f3n terrestre fija con energ\u00eda suficiente para destruir o derrotar a los sUAS en el aire.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon\u2019s\u00a0Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office<\/a>\u00a0has wrapped up a demonstration of high-power microwave technology capable of taking out multiple\u00a0drone threats<\/a>\u00a0at once.<\/p>\n Army officials running the effort said the vendors that came with high-power microwave capabilities were successful in defeating incoming drone threats, including two at a time.<\/p>\n The threat of drone swarms is increasing, and the\u00a0Pentagon is racing to ensure it can<\/a>\u00a0to defeat them. The Army is the service tasked to lead the JCO, which was established in late 2019. The office has now\u00a0conducted three demonstrations<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 two last year in the spring and fall, and one this spring. The\u00a0plan is to continue demonstrations twice a year<\/a>\u00a0to fix capability gaps identified by the armed services in countering small UAVs.<\/p>\n The most recent demonstration took place April 4-22 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. Three industry teams \u2014 Epirus, Raytheon Technologies and Leonardo DRS \u2014 brought ground-based, aerial-denial systems with high-power microwave capabilities. Such systems are \u201cdefined as a solution utilizing focused Electromagnetic Pulses from a fixed ground location at range with energy sufficient to destroy or defeat sUAS over the air,\u201d the JCO said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we primarily focused on in that first week for high-power microwave was how well the effector emitted,\u201d Michael DiGennaro, the test team lead for JCO\u2019s acquisition and resourcing division, said during a May 11 media roundtable.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were looking at range to engage the targets that were inbound and the amount of time it took to either deter or defeat the target,\u201d he added. The targets ranged among UAS groups 1, 2 and 3 and were used either one at a time or two simultaneously. (Group 1 drones weigh up to 20 pounds; Group 2 from 21 to 55 pounds; and Group 3 more than 55 pounds but less than 1,320 pounds.)<\/p>\n How\u2019d the counter-drone systems perform?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Leonardo DRS system \u2014 called a \u201cvector inversion generator\u201d \u2014 \u201cwas hindered in that it did not have an antenna to radiate,\u201d DiGennaro said.<\/p>\n But the JCO was able to assess the technology through its ability to hand off a detected threat from the government-owned command-and-control system, and then generate the power necessary to defeat the threat. \u201cWith that, we were able to capture power output and the amount of time that the electromagnetic pulse was on the target just with instrumentation,\u201d DiGennaro explained.<\/p>\n The Epirus system \u201cwas able to defeat targets in the range that is normally associated with what is currently in the field,\u201d DiGennaro said, \u201cand has the promise to be a little bit more effective in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Raytheon\u2019s capability \u201cwas very much in development, shows some promise for future development,\u201d he said, but \u201cthe ranges were somewhat shorter in their ability to defeat the incoming targets.\u201d<\/p>\n The office also assessed countering small UAS as a service, or CaaS, through contractor-owned, government-operated capability at fixed locations.<\/p>\n The office received a total of 25 whitepapers for CaaS and selected five to demonstrate their capabilities because they met specific requirements. Those five were Anduril Industries, Black Sage, CACI, Rafael Systems Global Sustainment and SAIC.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had five very complex architectures out there,\u201d DiGennaro said. \u201cEach of them brought a host of different components for detection, identification, tracking and defeat, and we tested against each of those components both individually and then as a system, culminating in a \u2018defend the forward-operating base\u2019 scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n The data collected is still being analyzed, he added, and a report will be published for limited distribution within the Defense Department next week.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was as much a learning exercise for us as it was for the companies,\u201d DiGennaro said of CaaS. \u201cWe had architectures out there that had not previously been working together, components in particular, architectures that were coming out there for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n The JCO was able to form new industry partnerships as well as get companies with different elements of the engagement chain together that had not worked together before, he said. \u201cThey\u2019re trying new combinations. They\u2019re developing things as we go.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, in the first demonstration, the office looked at\u00a0low-collateral interceptors<\/a>\u00a0for C-sUAS; in the second demonstration, it examined\u00a0cheap, ground-launched and hand-held capabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n The office and some services are in the process of finalizing contracts with vendors that\u00a0demonstrated technology last year<\/a>\u00a0to incorporate into an enduring architecture, but the JCO said it could not get into specifics until those contracts are finalized.<\/p>\n The JCO is in the final stages of developing what concepts and capabilities it wants to demonstrate in its next round of experimentation in the fall. The capability gaps the office wants to address will be finalized within a month, the office indicated.<\/p>\n