Persistent Airbrn CUAS Surveil (PANCAS)

Hostile Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) pose a severe and escalating threat to Navy ships and Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). By increasing the standoff distance where one way attack UAS are first detected, Navy forces can be afforded more time to engage and defeat these threats before they reach their targets.  The ship’s air-to-air radar is a powerful tool in this regard but is unable to see over the horizon.  Crewed aircraft, such as an H-60 helicopter, can fly over the horizon beyond the ship and detect UAS, sometimes quite effectively.  However, using a high-value asset like an H-60 to detect a low-cost UAS is not a scalable or practical long-term solution. A compelling alternative solution is for the Navy to use their own UAS, equipped with an appropriate counter-UAS detection system, to fill the role of the H-60.  SARA proposes to develop a multi-modal system that deconflicts the host UAS’s interactions with crewed aircraft while simultaneously seeking out hostile UAS.  This will require target detection, identification, and tracking, with possible expansion into engagement and defeat.  With the right sensors, this can be done almost completely passively, which will be important for some missions.  We are calling our concept the Low-Observable Counter-UAS System, or LOCUS.  LOCUS can be flown on one or several UAS, which then patrol for hostile UAS well beyond the detection range of a Navy ship or FOB.  An acoustic sensing layer provides low SWaP, passive, omnidirectional aircraft detection.  An EO/IR gimbal camera simultaneously scans the horizon for aircraft and is automatically slaved in the direction of any acoustic detection.  Machine Learning image recognition software running on an onboard processor will ultimately be used to classify the target, though in the near term an operator will perform the classification task.  If the aircraft is on a collision course, LOCUS will automatically maneuver the host UAS platform to avoid collision. This is an especially important capability in the event that the target aircraft is a civilian crewed aircraft.  If the target is classified as a hostile UAS, LOCUS will report its position, speed and heading to the operator, who can then ready shipboard or FOB-based countermeasures.  In the Phase I trade study, SARA will also investigate adding defeat mechanisms to LOCUS. SARA pioneered the use of acoustic sensors on UAS for detecting nearby aircraft and is uniquely positioned to deliver the described capability.