The USSOCOM Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program will soon be accepting submissions Handheld Kinetic Defeat of UAS. Submissions Open 31 January 2024.
The objective of this topic is to develop a handheld defeat capability to defeat Unmanned/Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS). Low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) solutions that can kinetically defeat Group 1-3 UAS (DoD defined) are desired. Defeat range is important, but reliability and a high probability of kill (Pk) are higher priority.
Visit events.sofwerx.org/sbir24-4r3 for details.
Some interesting stuff out there, like Roborounds and smartshooter. Pairing similar items in something handgun sized would make it easy to push down to every level, maybe separate the sensor and display like holosun’s pistol NV prototype…..
Group 3 defeat pretty much requires a MANPAD sort of missile, they should have aimed for 1-2.
Definitely should have left off Group 3. But really, even Group 2 is going to be difficult. Getting a kinetic hit up to 3,500 ft from something handheld is a really big ask too.
Though, now I see that this is just for Phase 1 right now, which is just a feasibility study. No prototype is necessary at the end. Just experiments/testing to assess feasibility of different techniques/options.