The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is running a ‘themed competition‘, for protecting physical assets (a static building, or a vehicle on the move) from UAS (Uncrewed Aerial System) attack. This competition is jointly funded by the UK official National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the Home Office and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
They’re seeking proposals that can provide a defensive solution for physical assets as a countermeasure to a UAS ‘kinetic’ attack, more popularly known as a drone. The authorities note that tyhe Counter-UAS (C-UAS) technology market focuses on targeting the UAS in flight. This competition aims to move away from such conventional C-UAS methods and instead seek the ways to provide physical protection; whether by hardening the asset, providing blanket last-ditch defence, or deploying automated alerts for incoming drones.
The authorities point to Russia’s war in Ukraine as showing how vulnerable assets such as critical national infrastructure (CNI) can be to drones, because the counter-drone measures might not always in the right place to stop drones; nor might those trained to operate the counter-drone tech. And besides capabilities and tactics of drones are developing all the time. DASA is running a webinar on May 2; and proposals must be sent by June 13.
An ideal system should be capable of passive deployment without the need for human intervention, DASA says. What this competition isn’t covering is the ‘off the shelf’ products for interdicting of the drone whether by electronic jamming, or shooting it with a laser or bullet. What is wanted is something ‘deployable in a covert manner, easily hidden or masked so that basic reconnaissance will not result in the threat actor redirecting a mission’.
Photo by Mark Rowe: Ministry of Defence (MoD) anti-drone signage, RAF Kinloss, Scotland.
