Cobalt Solution Receives Follow-On DHS Contract for Development of C-UAS System

Cobalt Solutions has received a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Department of Homeland Security for the development of a system capable of detecting and tracking small unmanned aerial vehicles in urban canyon environments.

The company’s Urban Canyon Detection Tracking and Identification of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles solution is expected to serve as an affordable, passive and easily deployable system that relies on available commercial 5G signals for identifying enemy drones, DHS said.

According to Jeff Randorf, DHS Science & Technology engineering adviser and SBIR topic manager, Cobalt Solution’s counter-drone system increases the number of exploitable drone signatures for detection and tracking.

“As more 5G mmWave transceivers are deployed in city centers, the ability to detect and track drones in complex urban geometries becomes easier, while not contributing to an already crowded radio frequency spectrum,” Randorf said in a statement.

Contract work will build on Cobalt Solutions’ successful demonstration of the feasibility of its 5G Passive Radar UAS Tracking and Targeting sensor system during Phase I.

Follow-up prototyping efforts under Phase II will be completed in 24 months. A potential Phase III award will enable the Texas-based company to obtain technology funding from the private sector or non-SBIR government sources for the commercialization of the counter-drone system.

Combating enemy drones is a top priority for the federal government, with top officials growing increasingly concerned about the various dangers posed by these technologies. A top concern among officials is the wide availability of drones and its application for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.