Pentagon tests high-power microwave systems against drones

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Plane Techniques Workplace has wrapped up an illustration of high-power microwave expertise able to taking out a number of drone threats directly.

Military officers working the hassle mentioned the distributors that got here with high-power microwave capabilities have been profitable in defeating incoming drone threats, together with two at a time.

The specter of drone swarms is rising, and the Pentagon is racing to make sure it will probably to defeat them. The Military is the service tasked to guide the JCO, which was established in late 2019. The workplace has now carried out three demonstrations — two final yr within the spring and fall, and one this spring. The plan is to proceed demonstrations twice a yr to repair functionality gaps recognized by the armed providers in countering small UAVs.

The latest demonstration happened April 4-22 at Yuma Proving Floor, Arizona. Three business groups — Epirus, Raytheon Applied sciences and Leonardo DRS — introduced ground-based, aerial-denial methods with high-power microwave capabilities. Such methods are “outlined as an answer using targeted Electromagnetic Pulses from a hard and fast floor location at vary with vitality ample to destroy or defeat sUAS over the air,” the JCO mentioned in a press release.

“What we primarily targeted on in that first week for high-power microwave was how nicely the effector emitted,” Michael DiGennaro, the take a look at group lead for JCO’s acquisition and resourcing division, mentioned throughout a Could 11 media roundtable.

“We have been taking a look at vary to interact the targets that have been inbound and the period of time it took to both deter or defeat the goal,” he added. The targets ranged amongst UAS teams 1, 2 and three and have been used both one after the other or two concurrently. (Group 1 drones weigh as much as 20 kilos; Group 2 from 21 to 55 kilos; and Group 3 greater than 55 kilos however lower than 1,320 kilos.)

How’d the counter-drone methods carry out?

The Leonardo DRS system — known as a “vector inversion generator” — “was hindered in that it didn’t have an antenna to radiate,” DiGennaro mentioned.

However the JCO was in a position to assess the expertise by way of its potential handy off a detected risk from the government-owned command-and-control system, after which generate the facility essential to defeat the risk. “With that, we have been in a position to seize energy output and the period of time that the electromagnetic pulse was on the goal simply with instrumentation,” DiGennaro defined.

The Epirus system “was in a position to defeat targets within the vary that’s usually related to what’s at the moment within the area,” DiGennaro mentioned, “and has the promise to be a bit of bit simpler sooner or later.”

Raytheon’s functionality “was very a lot in growth, exhibits some promise for future growth,” he mentioned, however “the ranges have been considerably shorter of their potential to defeat the incoming targets.”

The workplace additionally assessed countering small UAS as a service, or CaaS, by way of contractor-owned, government-operated functionality at fastened places.

The workplace acquired a complete of 25 whitepapers for CaaS and chosen 5 to exhibit their capabilities as a result of they met particular necessities. These 5 have been Anduril Industries, Black Sage, CACI, Rafael Techniques International Sustainment and SAIC.

“We had 5 very complicated architectures on the market,” DiGennaro mentioned. “Every of them introduced a number of various elements for detection, identification, monitoring and defeat, and we examined in opposition to every of these elements each individually after which as a system, culminating in a ‘defend the forward-operating base’ situation.”

The information collected continues to be being analyzed, he added, and a report might be revealed for restricted distribution throughout the Protection Division subsequent week.

“This was as a lot a studying train for us because it was for the businesses,” DiGennaro mentioned of CaaS. “We had architectures on the market that had not beforehand been working collectively, elements specifically, architectures that have been coming on the market for the primary time.”

The JCO was in a position to type new business partnerships in addition to get corporations with completely different components of the engagement chain collectively that had not labored collectively earlier than, he mentioned. “They’re making an attempt new combos. They’re growing issues as we go.”

Final yr, within the first demonstration, the workplace checked out low-collateral interceptors for C-sUAS; within the second demonstration, it examined low-cost, ground-launched and hand-held capabilities.

The workplace and a few providers are within the technique of finalizing contracts with distributors that demonstrated expertise final yr to include into a permanent structure, however the JCO mentioned it couldn’t get into specifics till these contracts are finalized.

The JCO is within the ultimate phases of growing what ideas and capabilities it needs to exhibit in its subsequent spherical of experimentation within the fall. The aptitude gaps the workplace needs to handle might be finalized inside a month, the workplace indicated.