U.S. military anti-drone systems seek common command-and-control technologies to counter enemy UAVs

July 14, 2020
Military has spent millions to stop $100 quadcopters, but the result is a hastily stitched patchwork of defenses that don’t work well with one another.

WASHINGTON – From radio jammers to lasers, a wide range of technologies from a wide range of companies will have a place in the Pentagon’s new architecture for anti-drone defense, says Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey. Breaking Defense reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

14 July 2020 -- “What all the services have truly embraced is the common command-and-control standards that are being developed as part of this process, which is going to allow the plug-and-play of industry’s emerging technologies,” says Gainey, head of the Pentagon's Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (JCO).

The JCO has endorsed seven defensive systems and one standard architecture for command and control, mandating the Army’s FAAD-C2 or a compatible C2 network such as the Air Force’s MEDUSA. JCO also is developing a formal capabilities development document that will define official requirements for future systems and upgrades to current ones.

The goal is to stop different services and commands from buying multiple, often incompatible counter-drone defenses, focus investment on fielding and upgrading a few best-of-breed systems, and impose a common standard for command and control to counter enemy UAVs that’s flexible enough to bring in new technologies as they emerge.

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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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