Since their appearance in the late 2000s, multirotor drones have taken the world by surprise. Unlike unmanned aerial systems (UAS) pursued by the world’s military forces under military research, development and supply channels, these drones, originally introduced for recreational use by hobbyists and filmmakers utilised highly integrated, miniaturised, cutting edge electronics designed for consumer, communications systems that pack ultra-advanced capabilities including remotely controlled and autonomous systems (RC), that perform remote surveillance, precision navigation, secure communications and agile, jam-resistant communications.
By end of 2020, more than 100,000,000 drones are expected to roam global skies, used in civilian, commercial and scientific roles. They carry remote monitoring, metering, sensing and security missions, infrastructure surveillance, agricultural services, fishery, forestry monitoring and control, delivering parcels and medical supplies, carry video cameras to cover sports events and more. Using open-source navigation and flight controls, amateurs and experts can hack drones to carry out missions they were never designed to do.
As they become more common in daily life, drones also become potential menaces, when they get landed on the wrong hands. So far, lethal use of drones was limited to the combat zones in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, but security forces around the world are certain that future drones’ lethal use will not be limited to warzones. In fact, the uninterrupted accessibility of drones could turn critical infrastructures such as gas and oil tanks, or chemical facilities into mega-explosives if exploited by terrorist using drones.
As small, slow and low flying vehicles,multirotor drones are hardly spotted from the ground by radar, camera or the human eye and, when strapped with rudimentary weapons, their simple yet effective control enable operators to use them loitering weapons.In Iraq, they were used by ISIS to spread havoc among Iraqi forces, defeated only with dedicated Counter-UAS (C-UAS) equipment that was rushed to the combat zone.
One of these C-UAS weapons is the Israeli Drone Guard, an integrated system that relies on multiple sensors to detect, classify, identify and defeat drone target. Developed by IAI Elta Systems, Drone Guard employs a multi-layered approach for detection, classification and targeting. For detection, the company’s ELM-2026B X-band radar and passive Communications Intelligence (COMINT) to detect and classify targets from five kilometers. Electro-optical sensors may also be used to detect targets that maintain minimal or no radar signature.Once a drone presence is verified, the radar directs the Electro-Optical (EO) system to identify it. The combination of radar and SIGINT is part of Elta’s multilayered detection capability that maximises the system’s efficiency.
Once detected and identified,targets are mitigated by Drone Guardusing multilayered effects. The most basic effectorsare electronic emitters used to jam and disrupt the drone’s control and navigationchannels, following different protocol that can ‘fend off’ the drone from the guarded premises or bring it down safely using cyber ‘takeover’ methods. Elta’s effector portfolio may also hasinclude other effectors such as electronic warfare (EW) and 'HARD KILL' measures, to deal with specific environments and defeat existing and evolving threats.
Drone Guard’s agility and adaptability positions it apart from numerous C-UAS systems available in the market. Relying on effective, advanced, software defined radar and sensors, the system provides the range and accuracy necessary for quick reaction, tracking and pointing of EO sensors while the integral COMINT package automatically classifies targets and reduce false alarms. Software defined jammers enabling users to tailor jammingagainst a specific target or swarms or employ ‘takeover’ protocols that adapt to evolving threats and scenarios. All these systems are controlled through a common interfacethat integrates all functions to simplify the operator’s mission.
Offering a sophisticated and agile C-UAS capability, Drone Guard is well positioned to secure civilians and military forces against the growing menace of drones.
