SNC and its partners will participate in the demo, also being called “Game of Drones,” using X-MADIS (eXpeditionary Mobile Aerial Defense Integrated System), which is a self-contained, fully mobile and integrated counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) capability. The C-UAS, radar and Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) equipment is integrated into a commercial off-road vehicle that can detect, locate, identify, track, exploit and defeat an enemy UAS (also known as drone) to protect airports, no-fly zones and other high-value infrastructure.
The SOFWERX RPE demonstration events began in June 2017 and have evaluated more than 450 technological capabilities aimed at bringing sea-, land-, and air-based UAS, tactical swarms, payloads (kinetic/non-kinetic/sensors), and their associated data science applications to the Special Operations Community. ThunderDrone RPE III is the culmination of the events, and X-MADIS is one of just 30 remaining entrants. Only warfighters, interagency partners, and select contributors from industry and academia may participate in RPEs, which are formally evaluated by a government assessment team.
X-MADIS performed flawlessly in the previous RPE II held at Ft. Bragg North Carolina. This event evaluated operational setup time and the system’s capability to detect, locate, identify, track, exploit, defeat, and assess effects on threat representative small unmanned aerial vehicles. The top three participants for the upcoming exercise, called “Game of Drones,” will be awarded prize money based on system performance.
For more information, see the SOFWERX website. X-MADIS will be on display at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, Fla., May 22-24, booth #1624.