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D-Fend Solutions Enters Agreement with Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division for Counter-Drone Technology Testing

Thursday, November 7th, 2024

Program set to Collect Data and EvaluateEnforceAir C-UAS System’s Capabilities in Airport Environments

RA’ANANA, Israel and MCLEAN, Va., Thursday, November 7th — D-Fend Solutions, the leader in field-proven radio frequency (RF) cyber-based, non-kinetic, non-jamming, counter- drone takeover technology, today announced a new agreement with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) under its Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) program. This program will focus on conducting extensive evaluation of D-Fend Solutions’ advanced counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) technologies in various Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) test beds.

The testing will be conducted at various selected governmental airfields, commercial airports, and other facilities upon the mutual concurrence of both organizations. These evaluations will collect data to evaluate the capabilities of the EnforceAir C-UAS detection, tracking, and identification system on a continuous basis in an airport environment, with the system operational to gather data on drones when airspace regulations are violated. The test data will be analyzed, and test reports generated.

“Partnering with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division under the CRADA program provides a pivotal opportunity for us to continue to advance our counter-drone technology in complex and challenging military and civil aviation environments,’ said Zohar Halachmi, Chairman and CEO of D-Fend Solutions. “The expertise and rigorous standards of the NSWC PCD make them an exceptional partner, as we move to fulfil evolving airport security demands. Together, we will accelerate the evaluation and demonstration of our leading RF-Cyber C-UAS technology as we carry out the mission of protecting public safety and maintaining the continuity of essential operations.”

D-Fend Solutions’ participation in the program is further recognition of the company’s leading presence in programs which demonstrate EnforceAir’s airport C-UAS technology capabilities. In 2023, D-Fend participated in and completed the FAA’s Airport UAS Detection and Mitigation Section 383 Research Program at Atlantic City International Airport (KACY) and Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR).

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Strike Industries and Narsil Dynamics Announce Strategic Partnership to Launch Advanced AI Drone, “Waspy” in 2025

Friday, November 1st, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 31, 2024

Pioneering autonomous drone technology with groundbreaking latency reduction, target acquisition, and real-time facial recognition capabilities.

Las Vegas, Nevada — Narsil Dynamics, a leader in drone technology with a legacy as Asia’s first large-scale drone manufacturer, has teamed up with Strike Industries (SI) to introduce the Waspy—a revolutionary AI-powered drone poised to transform military, commercial, and search-and-rescue (SAR) operations. Set for its first public demo flight in December 2024, Waspy leverages advanced AI capabilities to minimize latency, providing unmatched target acquisition without reliance on traditional FPV piloting.

Click here to watch our intro video.

Autonomous Precision Targeting and AI-Driven Tracking

Designed primarily for military use, Waspy’s AI-driven capabilities allow it to autonomously “chase” and secure targets based on predefined parameters. Operators can import specific target data, enabling Waspy to search and identify individuals based on features such as clothing colors or distance from a set location. By eliminating the need for direct control, Waspy significantly reduces the limitations traditionally posed by signal transmission delays.

This autonomous targeting is further enhanced by high-end models featuring integrated real-time facial recognition, priced competitively at around $2000, while entry-level models are set to retail at approximately $1000.

Manufactured in the USA and Taiwan with Zero Reliance on Chinese Chipsets

Reflecting Narsil Dynamics’ commitment to security and reliability, Waspy will be manufactured in both the USA and Taiwan. The drone’s production process is entirely free of Chinese chipsets, ensuring a secure, stable, and technologically independent platform.

Click here to watch our intro video.

Company History: Setting Global Standards in Drone Innovation

Founded with a commitment to innovation, the original team of Narsil Dynamics achieved a Top global ranking in the 2010s and delivered its first large scale drone to the Taiwan Police Department in 2013, advancing law enforcement capabilities across Asia. From law enforcement applications to groundbreaking solutions worldwide, the founders of Narsil have consistently set industry standards. Now, with Waspy, Narsil Dynamics pushes boundaries once again, bringing the world a new level of autonomy in drone technology.

Upcoming Demo and Purchase Information

Waspy’s debut demo flight is scheduled for December 2024, offering an exclusive look at its cutting-edge functionality. Narsil Dynamics will open purchase orders in early 2025, and interested parties can follow the company’s social media and website for the latest updates and details.

Stay Connected

For continuous updates on Waspy and other groundbreaking innovations, follow Narsil Dynamics on Instagram and visit our official website. Join us in witnessing a new era in autonomous drone technology.

Email: info@narsildynamics.com

Instagram: instagram.com/narsildynamics

Youtube: youtube.com/@NarsilDynamics

Website: www.narsildynamics.com

Narsil Dynamics and Strike Industries’ collaboration signals a major step forward in the world of autonomous drone technology, setting a new standard for performance, security, and innovation in both military and commercial applications.

Posted in Advertiser, Press Release, UAS | 7 Comments »

NDIA Future Forces Conference Poster #4 – Deadly UAS Homing Threats of the Future

Thursday, October 31st, 2024

With drones a major aspect of the war in Ukraine (and elsewhere) it’s best to become as familiarized with the infernal devices as possible. To wit, I present “Deadly UAS Homing Threats of the Future” presented at the recent Future Forces Conference in Virginia Beach.

For those interested, POC data is on the poster.

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DroneShield Expands European Presence to Meet Surging Demand for Counterdrone Solutions

Wednesday, October 30th, 2024

Sydney, Australia – DroneShield (ASX:DRO), a world-leading innovator in counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), is proud to announce the expansion of its European footprint. This is in response to the escalating need for advanced counterdrone technologies across Europe. To enhance its regional capabilities, DroneShield has strategically appointed a team of elite experts, establishing a strong presence in both Denmark and Germany, alongside its network of experienced in-country sales channel partners throughout Europe.

The seasoned senior European team includes Hans Høyer, Asger Hviid, Oleksiy Prymin, and Red McClintock, each with deep expertise in counter-UAS technologies. This multilingual team, proficient in English, German, Ukrainian, French, and Scandinavian languages, is poised to provide localised support, offering tailored solutions to defence, security, and commercial sectors across the continent.

The expansion comes at a pivotal time, as Europe faces increasing threats from rogue drone activities in military, critical infrastructure, and government sectors. DroneShield’s battle-proven solutions are globally deployed to combat these evolving threats, and the company’s European team will provide immediate, on-the-ground support for customers and partners in the region.

Hans Høyer, DroneShield’s newly appointed Sales Director, stated, “We understand the importance of proximity of support for our customers, and are committed to providing bespoke solutions that address their unique challenges. Whether it’s for special forces, fixed installations, or mobile solutions, we’re committed to providing unrivalled expertise and service.”

MSPO, Kielce in September 2024

Driving Innovation and Speed in European Defence

Throughout 2024, DroneShield’s European team has been actively engaging with the continent’s defence and security sectors, attending high-profile industry events to showcase rapidly deployable C-UAS detection and defeat solutions. DroneShield’s difference lies in the speed and precision of its deployments. With an unmatched track record for swiftly delivering solutions to the field, the team’s presence reinforces the company’s commitment to providing battle-proven, scalable technologies that meet the pressing challenges of modern drone threats.

“Our attendance at these key events isn’t just about showcasing products, it’s about highlighting the speed at which we can provide actionable, real-world solutions,” said Høyer. “We’re bringing a new level of readiness to the table, ensuring our customers can count on DroneShield for the rapid, effective deployment of tailored C-UAS solutions.”

Eurosatory, Paris in June 2024

Strengthening European Defence with Local Expertise

The team’s launch makes a significant step in DroneShield’s rapid global expansion, reinforcing the company’s position as a leader in the defence technology space. By providing on-the-ground guidance, demonstrations, installations, and continued service support, the European team will ensure clients benefit from DroneShield’s market-leading innovations in counterdrone technology.

Backed by the innovation and resources of DroneShield’s global headquarters in Sydney, Australia, as well as DroneShield’s United States headquarters in Warrenton, Virginia, the European team’s local presence offers customers rapid response times and personalised service. From product demonstrations to installations and ongoing support, the team ensures customers receive comprehensive, real-time assistance to tackle drone threats with unparalleled effectiveness.

Farnborough International Airshow in July 2024

DroneShield’s CEO, Oleg?Vornik, commented, “With our expanded European presence, we are in a stronger position to meet the growing demands for counterdrone solutions in the region. Our team is not only bringing cutting-edge technology but also providing hands-on support to ensure each customer receives the best possible solution.”

Posted in International, Press Release, UAS | Comments Off on DroneShield Expands European Presence to Meet Surging Demand for Counterdrone Solutions

AUSA 24 – DefendTex Vengeance FPV Drone

Thursday, October 24th, 2024

One of my personal missions at AUSA was to seek out truly attritable drones. One of the things I’ve taken away from the war in Ukraine is that with a consumption rate in excess of 10,000 per month, the attritable drone is the 155 shell of the future. These small, low-cost, disposable unmanned aerial systems are upending how we will conduct warfare. They are highly adaptable and are under constant revision as enemy TTPs adapt to their use. We’ve got to have something just as robust. In the hands of innovative American troops like SOCOM’s new robotics specialists, drones will be devastating.

Attritable, or consumable, apparently means a lot of things to a lot of people. For instance, when the Defense Innovation Unit’s Replicator initiative went to industry seeking out attritable drones they ended up buying AeroVironment Switchblade-600 loitering munition. A fine weapon to be sure, but our nation can hardly afford to expend them at the rate seen in Ukraine. If anything, our future adversaries are going to throw an order of magnitude more at us and we’ll need to be able to respond in kind.

One of the examples I ran across is from Australian small business DefendTex. They first impressed me years ago with their innovative Drone40.

The Vengeance is a First Person View drone manufactured in Australia and has been submitted to the US for Blue certification.

Offered in 7″, 8″, 10″, and 13″ models, it can carry up to 10kg of explosive ordinance over a distance greater than 20kms.

It is built with a goal of around $1000 per copy in mass production and features simple construction using zip ties in some instances and a single circuit board integrating flight control, ESC, OSD, VTX connector and servo output.

Although it is an FPV drone, it can be configured for autonomous terminal guidance as well as swarm tactics.

Posted in AUSA, Disruptive Tech, UAS | 2 Comments »

AUSA 24 – Tomahawk Ground Control Stations

Monday, October 21st, 2024

Although all of AeroVironment’s uncrewed systems are open architecture and will accept control solutions from other vendors, AeroVironment purchased Tomahawk Robotics just over a year ago due to interest in their Ground Control Solutions.

The Tomahawk GCS is an AI-enhanced, open-architecture common control system providing multi-domain, multi-robotic command-and-control capabilities. Tomahawk’s Kinesis software and Kinesis SDKs enable rapid development, integration, and deployment of 3rd-party technology to the warfighter at the edge…

Seen above is the Grip S20, a rugged controller designed around the Samsung Galaxy S20 Tactical Edition smartphone. Grip S20 is military-hardened and provides an intuitive UI to simplify UxV control. It is run by their Kinesis software which offers unmanned systems control, TAK/ATAK integration to provide video rebroadcasting, COT messaging, and bi-directional syncing of POIs. Kinesis optimizes the vehicle pairing process, enables UxV formations and control, and a map engine that supports multiple sources via layers, DTED, and coordinates in both Lat Long and MGRS.

The controller can be paired with an edge processor like the MxC-Mini which is a Nett Warrior-compliant data link that seamlessly integrates with tactical UxVs. These edge processors ingest large amounts of data for high-speed, body-worn computation, reducing cognitive load, and fusing raw intelligence data for real-time decision-making.

www.avinc.com/uas/network-connectivity

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GA-ASI Completes Full-Scale Fatigue Test on MQ-9B for Second Lifetime

Friday, October 18th, 2024

SAN DIEGO – 14 October 2024 – On Sept. 30, 2024, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (G A-ASI) completed a major milestone with the full-scale fatigue testing of an MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). The team completed the “second lifetime” of fatigue testing, which is equivalent to 80,000 operating hours and represents an important step in validating the design of the airframe system. The testing is part of the aircraft certification to NATO standard STANAG 4671, where the aircraft will ultimately be tested through three lifetimes, thereby proving the 40,000-hour lifetime of the airframe.

The full-scale fatigue test simulates the aircraft’s design service through the application of repeated structural loading on the assembled airframe. The testing identifies any potential structural deficiencies ahead of fleet usage and assists in developing inspection and maintenance schedules for the airframe. The results of the test will be used as part of the documentation for certification and will form the basis for in-service inspections of structural components.

MQ-9B is GA-ASI’s most advanced RPA and includes the SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian® models as well as the new Protector RG Mk1 that is currently being delivered to the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF).

“Full-scale fatigue testing is an integral part of validating the airframe design and a key input for the certification of the airframe prior to entering service,” said Chris Dusseault, vice president of MQ-9B in Europe. “The completion of the fatigue test builds confidence for our MQ-9B customers that the SkyGuardian/SeaGuardian meets the stringent design rigor and is mature at Entry into Service.”

The testing is the validation of years of design and analysis efforts. This is the second of three lifetimes of testing for the airframe. Two of the lifetimes simulate the operation of an aircraft under normal conditions, and the third has intentional damage inflicted on the airframe’s critical components to demonstrate its resistance to operational damage that may occur over the lifetime of the air vehicle.

Testing was conducted from Jan. 31, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2024, at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita, Kansas. The airframe tested is a production airframe purpose-built to support the test campaign.

In addition to the RAF, contracts have been signed for MQ-9B with Belgium, Canada, Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. Air Force in support of the Special Operations Command. The Japan Coast Guard is currently operating the SeaGuardian for maritime operations, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) selected SeaGuardian for its Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) RPA System Trial Operation Project.

Posted in Aviation, Press Release, UAS | Comments Off on GA-ASI Completes Full-Scale Fatigue Test on MQ-9B for Second Lifetime

At EDGE, Lockheed Martin Drives Advancements in AI, Crewed-Uncrewed Teaming and Networked Connectivity for U.S. Army

Friday, October 18th, 2024

The Big Picture

At several 2024 U.S. Army demonstrations such as Project Convergence and Army Futures Command’s Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE), Lockheed Martin is demonstrating crewed-uncrewed teaming, uncrewed-uncrewed operations, Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) and integrated systems in various missions relevant to 21st Century Security® in all domains including through the digital frontier.

During EDGE, Lockheed Martin conducted highly realistic air/ground teaming scenarios with uncrewed aerial and ground vehicles. A launched effect provided overwatch guidance for a quadruped that navigated urban terrain with human and vehicle obstacles. This technology is designed to operate in environments with degraded or intermittent communications, and scale to many uncrewed systems. Image courtesy DVIDS.

The Details

During EDGE, Lockheed Martin conducted successful AI and launched effects demonstrations including rapid integration into Lockheed Martin’s mission systems thanks to the company’s open architecture systems. Image courtesy DVIDS.

During EDGE, Lockheed Martin conducted highly realistic air/ground teaming scenarios with uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), acting as launched effects surrogates, and uncrewed ground vehicles (UGV).

In one mission scenario, a launched effect provided autonomous overwatch guidance for a quadruped that navigated urban terrain with human and vehicle obstacles. This technology is designed to operate in environments with degraded or intermittent communications, and scale to many uncrewed systems.

The successful demonstrations included rapid integration into Lockheed Martin’s mission systems thanks to the company’s open architecture systems.

The scenario played out in the Air-Ground Littoral, an area where the majority of Army operations, both air and ground occur.

Lockheed Martin sees the Air-Ground Littoral as the space primarily occupied by ground forces, supporting helicopters and launched effects, between the ground and up to a few thousand feet of altitude.

Expert Perspectives

Dan Morrison, technical program manager, Lockheed Martin

“Our experimentation is refining autonomous, collaborative behaviors and proving out AI/ML systems in a realistic and challenging environment. Ultimately, this will further enable commanders to better integrate humans and machines in formation and offer increased standoff and reduced workload for Soldiers.”

Michael Harasimowicz, director, AI Innovations, Lockheed Martin

“AI enabling technologies are critical for the U.S. Army to harness decision advantage by extending and expanding sensor understanding at the edge of the battlespace. One day very soon you will see a mission where a Black Hawk helicopter sends information to launched effects that is out ahead of the fight and communicates with a UGV for first contact with the opposing force.”

Going Deeper: The Lockheed Martin AI Center

Lockheed Martin’s AI Center (LAIC), and the experience of our Applied AI researchers combined with the expertise of teammates who are U.S. Army veterans led to the successes at EDGE.

Fifteen members of the LAIC went to Yuma to support EDGE to support five separate AI-enabled capabilities.

“We are demonstrating our suite of AI capabilities for coordinated use and intuitive control across the Air and Ground domain featuring the Lockheed Martin Stalker uncrewed system and a Spot®, Boston Dynamics Quadruped Robot,” said Harasimowicz. “This synchronization of airborne and ground-based defenses demonstrates Lockheed Martin’s commitment to Force Protection Technologies, a key mission for the U.S. Army.”

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