ADS Inc. continues to identify solutions for their clients’ real world challenges with the latest equipment available.  One of the major blobs on everyone’s radar screen are drones. Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become ubiquitous in a multitude of roles. Increasingly some of those roles are not in our interest.  ADS continues to be at the cutting edge of problem solving with its Federal Range Day on June 9^th at the Crucible Training Facility in Virginia.

The civilian sector develops new uses for drones daily, ranging from sports photography to real-estate applications.  Government is also leveraging drones.  First responders are using drones for situational awareness to surveillance.  Most critically and well known are drones’ military applications.  Drone availability, affordability, and technology has surged.  Unfriendly individuals, groups and countries are using drones in a wide variety of roles.  Accompanying that growth is the threat to innocent civilians, first responders and our military and the dire need to develop countermeasures.

The battlefield is where most would expect drones to be weaponized, used to gather data or solutions developed to keep the enemy from doing the same.  Recently ISIS weaponized a small drone and carried out a bombing run killing an Iraqi soldier.  Combating constant Russian surveillance Ukraine has pressed civilian drones and their operators into service to monitor Russian separatist artillery employment.  State and local law enforcement, federal government agencies, and even commercial venues such as sports stadiums and airports are also looking at methods of combating obtrusive UAVs.  Even prisons have seen drones used to deliver drugs to inmates and our critical infrastructure like nuclear plants may be a target.

Black Hornet Nano Drone from Prox Dynamics

The proliferation of drones in the hands of private operators, organizations and unfriendly nations raises the need to develop useful anti-drone systems that are versatile, scalable and available today. Technology isn’t standing still.  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) introduced SideArm, a portable drone-grabbing system that snatches drones out of the air.  Airbus introduced a system that electronically attacks drones to make them fall out of the sky, other counter drone methods trap them inside invisible fences or inside anti-drone nets.  These are much needed steps in the right direction but are limited solutions.  Federal Range Day by ADS promises to demonstrate what is currently available in the drone and counter-drone market specifically in the sUAV or “small UAV” sector.

ADS supply partners Battelle, MyDefense, Physical Sciences Inc (PSI), Proxdynamics and Ziska will demonstrate purpose built systems used by military, law enforcement, prison, and physical security personnel to protect military installations, control posts, critical infrastructure, prison facilities and public gathering venues.

Today, the individual first responder or soldier needs a personal drone when responding to a crisis or executing a mission.  Proxdynamic “Black Hornet” personal reconnaissance system with nano sensors and PSI’s “Instant Eye” high performance, low cost all weather aerial system will put on live demonstrations of their futuristic but here today solutions of personal drone technology.

The threat also has access to similar but less capable sUAV technology and as we’ve seen from Iraq to Ohio to Ukraine counter-drone solutions are urgently needed. ADS has marshalled solutions for this problem also. Battelle’s Drone Defender direct energy on-kinetic C-sUAV solution, My Defense’s “Knox” C-sUAV detection and mitigation defense system and Ziska’s “Air Armor Anti-Drone Defense” C-sUAV Detection reporting and mitigation product will all be on hand to demonstrate the latest in counter-drone approaches available today.

Trijicon’s Crucible Training Facility in Fredericksburg will host the ADS Federal Range Day on Friday, June 9 from 8am – 2pm.  The drone and counter-drone demonstration start time is 9 am. It promises to be a fascinating day and is only open to government ID holders.

Image from ADS INC. The Black Hornet Nano is a military micro unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Prox Dynamics AS of Norway, and in use by the Norwegian, the British Army and the armed forces of Germany.