News

2015-08-01

BRIT FIRMS UNVEIL AUDS

A trio of British technology companies comprising Blighter Surveillance Systems, Chess Dynamics and Enterprise Control Systems - leaders in their respective fields - have combined to develop a powerful, highly effective and fully integrated Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS). The objective is to combat the growing threat of malicious micro, mini and larger unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones.

The AUDS integrate the Blighter A400 Series Ku band electronic scanning air security radar, Chess Dynamics’ stabilised electro-optic director, infrared and daylight cameras and target tracking software, and a directional radio frequency inhibitor/jammer system from Enterprise Control Systems to detect, track, classify, disrupt and neutralise UAVs at ranges of up to eight km.

The AUDS system is even effective against so-called Group 1 micro UAVs at ranges of up to two km and Group 1 mini UAVs at ranges of several kms.

Mark Radford, CEO, Blighter Surveillance Systems, said: “We formed the all-British AUDS team in 2014 as we were each acutely aware of the urgent operational requirement from our customers for an effective and affordable anti-UAV system.

Working in partnership, we have developed some clever technology (patents are pending) that integrates the different sensors, effector and electro-mechanical positioning systems to disrupt and bring down any malicious drone in a phased and controlled manner.”

According to the AUDS team, the technology has been extensively tested in South Korea along the 250km demilitarized zone (DMZ), where Blighter radars have been deployed for some years.

Two series of demonstrations have taken place for the defence ministries of France and the UK in recent months, during which the system showed it was capable of identifying unwanted UAVs and jamming one of several onboard radio frequencies – including GPS, the controls and telemetry channels – against “blind” and “semi-blind” targets.

Detecting, neutralizing

In March 2015, the AUDS team took part in multi-supplier French Government trials in Captieux, France, where its counter UAV system proved highly successful in detecting and neutralising a variety of fixed and rotary wing micro, compact and standard UAVs. And recently, the system also performed well in UK Government-sponsored counter UAV trials (known as Bristow 15) in West Freugh, Scotland.

The AUDS system is designed for counter UAV operations in remote border sites or urban areas. It can be operated from fixed locations and from mobile platforms. Key features and benefits include:

• Fully electronic scanning radar technology with Doppler processing allowing all weather, 24-hour detection of both fast and slow moving micro and mini UAV targets with unsurpassed ground clutter suppression for near horizon operation;

• Highly accurate stabilised pan and tilt director combined with the very latest electro-optic infrared day and night cameras and state-of-the-art digital video tracking technology to automatically track the UAV and classify the target;

• Smart radio frequency inhibitor to selectively disrupt various command and control communication links employed by the UAV. Disruptive effect can be carried out in an intelligent, proportional and non-kinetic manner to mitigate collateral impact, and the inhibitor/jammer system is software controlled giving the capacity to counter new and emerging threats.

Colin Bullock, CEO, Enterprise Control Systems, said: “We believe that with the combination of our three systems - best-in-class expertise in radar detection, camera and video tracking and RF jamming & data communications - we have a world-beating product that competes even with systems based around expensive military 3-D air security radars. And, AUDS is available at commercial prices right now.”

With incidents of UAV and drone related security breaches occurring on an almost daily basis, the AUDS system is able to address the heightened concern about UAVs within military, government, critical infrastructure and commercial security organisations. While UAVs have many positive applications, it’s expected that they’ll be used increasingly for malicious purposes - they can carry cameras, weapons, toxic chemicals and explosives - and be used increasingly for terrorism, espionage and smuggling purposes.

Graham Beall, managing director, Chess Dynamics, said: “This is truly an exciting collaboration - three British high-tech companies with different technologies and expertise working together to address the global problem of UAV detection. Our new invention is a complete smart sensor and effector package that can automatically detect, track, classify and when required neutralise the potential impact of malicious UAVs with a measured response. These three fully integrated technologies give AUDS a truly optimised sensor effector mix.”

Blighter B400 series

Blighter’s A400 series range of air security radars build on the heritage of its successful Blighter B400 series ground surveillance radars. The A400 series radars are modular non-rotating, electronic-scanning (e-scan) systems using power efficient PESA (passive electronically scanned array) and FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) technologies to provide industry leading levels of reliability and requiring zero maintenance.

A400 series radars are optimised for the detection of small UAVs carrying video cameras, wireless communication systems, narcotics, explosives and other undesirable payloads. A400 series radars use optimised digital signal processing parameters that enables them to extract the tiny radar reflections from modern plastic bodied UAVs even when flying close to the ground where ground clutter reflections are relatively large.

Configurations

The A400 series radars are offered in two standard configurations. The Blighter A402 radar covers a horizontal azimuth scan sector of 90°, whereas the Blighter A422 radar covers a horizontal azimuth scan sector of 180°. Vertical elevation coverage may be configured by the selection of the either the W20S antennas (20° vertical elevation coverage) or the M10S antennas (10° vertical elevation coverage). An optional BRTS (Blighter Radar Tilting System) is also available.

The system is capable of detecting micro aerial vehicles at ranges up to two km and larger UAVs and aircraft at ranges up to eight km. Target tracking software and extensive zone filtering facilities allow UAVs to be detected while reducing false alarms from birds.

Hawkeye EOSS

The Hawkeye electro-optic surveillance system (Hawkeye EOSS), at the heart of AUDS, combines the combat proven COBRA pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) dual axis stabilised positioner, a cooled or uncooled IR camera with Chess Dynamics’ advanced Piranha 46 daylight camera along with our own high performance digital video tracking and Graphical User Interface (GUI) software. This surveillance system is in service with the Royal Navy and the British Army and has been used on operations in Afghanistan.

Hawkeye is a compact, high perfomance long-range surveillance system. It has been designed for use in the harshest environments to provide 24-hour surveillance and threat detection.

What sets Hawkeye apart from other long-range surveillance systems is its reliability and easy maintainability, but more importantly its high quality sensors. With options for two long-range cameras, capable of identifying a man between 2-5km, we are confident we have the configuration you need for the budget you have. The system also boasts a WFOV 36x zoom Piranha TV camera and a cooled TI camera. Options are also available for LRFs and gyro stabilisation.

The Hawkeye platform is based on the immensely popular Cobra PTH. Its rugged design & build, with high performance sensor pointing, make it ideal for outpost situational awareness applications. Its modular construction and design means sensors can be easily replaced/repaired without complete removal of the optical head. This saves valuable time & money, keeping your equipment working in the field for longer.

Piranha TV is Chess’ most popular and reliable camera, having been used in a wide range of extreme environments for many years. It gives a WFOV of 57.8° for great overview surveillance, but is capable of 36x zoom (1.7° NFOV) for initial inspections of threats.

RF Disruptor

Enterprise Control Systems has over 20 years of operational experience of RF Electronic Countermeasure Systems and advanced Data Links. This combined expertise has been brought to bear in the AUDS Directional Jammer which is employed to selectively disrupt various C2 links employed by the UAV.

AUDS is designed to disrupt and neutralise UAVs engaged in Hostile Airborne Surveillance and potentially Malicious Activity. The AUDS system combines electronic scanning radar target detection and classification, electro optic tracking and directional RF inhibition capability over independent RF bands (GPS and control).

The Anti-UAV Defence System, AUDS, is a smart-sensor and effector package capable of remotely detecting small UAVs then tracking and classifying them before providing the option to disrupt their activity. The system may be used in remote or urban areas to prevent UAVs being used for terrorist attacks, espionage or other malicious activities against sites with critical infrastructure.

Photo/text: www.phoenixaerospace.co.uk

www.enterprisecontrol.co.uk

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