Counter-drone weapons
Anduril to Offer C-UAS as a Service to Military Customers
The Defense Innovation Unit has awarded Anduril Industries a potential $99 million contract to provide counter-unmanned aircraft system solutions as a service to military customers.
The five-year deal allows the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to purchase Anduril’s suite of artificial intelligence-enabled C-UAS solutions, which are capable of autonomously detecting, classifying and tracking targets, including hobby drones and those flown by state actors.
Additionally, the service branches will be able to rely on Anduril for the management and sustainment of the procured systems, C4ISRNET reported.
“Because the services will be buying C-UAS as a service, Anduril will be able to provide a range of systems based on a particular threat profile instead of a one size fits all model,” according to Anduril Chief Revenue Officer Matthew Steckman.
The DIU was able to transition Anduril’s prototype counter-drone solutions to production in a span of 18 months.
Steckman touted the accelerated timeline implemented by DIU for helping bridge the “Valley of Death,” which refers to the failure to integrate promising technologies into programs of record.
Procurement of C-UAS solutions and related tech development efforts are becoming increasingly prevalent across the military as top officials continue to acknowledge the threats posed by drones on soldiers and civilian populations.
Citadel Defense has received a $5 million contract from the Department of Defense to provide U.S. troops with its Titan C-UAS technology. The solution uses a combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning and low-collateral electronic countermeasures to prevent drone pilots from collecting intelligence and drones from penetrating protected airspace.
Meanwhile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has developed a solution for performing wide-area surveillance of small drones in dense urban environments. DARPA’s Aerial Dragnet capability is designed to transmit tracking data from a network of sensors to counter-drone systems and help them locate and eventually take down enemy drones.
Category: Defense and Intelligence
Tags: Anduril Industries C-UAS as a service C4ISRNET counter-unmanned aerial system Defense and Intelligence Defense Innovation Unit Department of Defense Matt Steckman
