Beam-Enabled Autonomous Coordination and Navigation for sUAS (BEACONS)

To maintain dominance in multi-domain operations, the Army requires an autonomous, precision drone localization and guidance system capable of functioning in GPS- and RF-denied environments while minimizing operator involvement. The system must enable drones to autonomously navigate to designated landing points—whether on a static, moving, ground, or maritime platform—with high precision. Additionally, it must have a low-observable signature across visible, IR, and RF spectrums, be adaptable across various platforms, and capable of supporting multiple simultaneous UAVs to enable large-scale, coordinated drone operations. A landing accuracy of +/- 1 meter is critical to reduce mission risk, particularly for operations involving moving platforms, urban logistics, or contested environments. Unmanned cargo delivery platforms are growing in size as fast as manufacturers are able to create them so precision landing systems will allow these large systems to land in smaller areas. The Army requires autonomous operation with minimal human intervention to reduce workload and operational risks. Stratin proposes the Beam-Enabled Autonomous Coordination and Navigation for sUAS (BEACONS) solution which is based on non-SBIR funded work conducted for the Army Sandhills program and directly addresses these challenges by introducing an advanced, modular, and scalable system for precision UAS navigation and landing. Its importance lies in the following areas: