Enhanced Counter-Surveillance via Hiawatha RF Sensing

UAS’s enable asymmetric warfare where small entities gain parity with larger states, as evinced by the war in Ukraine and UAS attacks by Iranian-backed proxies in the Middle East. Recently, there have also been several well publicized incidents of unidentified UAS observed over U.S. military bases highlighting the risk to U.S. personnel and military assets. These incidents highlight the growing challenges posed by drone technology to national security and the need for effective countermeasures.To achieve and retain tactical dominance, the US Army must employ counter-UAS (cUAS) systems that offer not only situational awareness for a comprehensive view of UAS activity, but also rapid response to potential threats and the ability to detect UAS operating in “Dark” mode or differentiate multiple UAS in a swarm environment. Although cUAS methods have improved in detecting and tracking drones, a recent assessment report noted that small UAS weighing less than 55 pounds are still able to penetrate defensive screens. This threat is increasing with the accelerating propagation of UAS operating in “RF Dark” mode without any intentional communications or navigational links. Existing cUAS methods do not effectively protect against dark RF targets. The consequence is an unfulfilled requirement for an innovative UAS detection and tracking system to detect high-threat targets operating in “RF Dark” conditions. Nokomis’ family of passive ultrasensitive Hiawatha RF sensors can detect both intended and the weak unintended RF emissions from electronic devices at tactically significant ranges. Since the signature of the unintended emission is causally related to the device construction, these unintended emissions serve as a fingerprint for the type of device allowing the Hiawatha system to both detect and identify the device. Even while operating autonomously, “RF Dark” UAS continue to emit RF radiation from non-emitter subsystems onboard. During the Phase I effort Nokomis successfully demonstrated its ability to passively detect and characterize UAS and related targets by their unintended RF emissions at tactically significant ranges. Specifically, Nokomis showed its ability to detect and characterize “RF Dark” targets. Nokomis proposes leveraging its low-SWaP Hiawatha System in a Package (H-SiP) ultra-sensitive RF sensor to passively detect and identify RF Dark UAS targets and provide an ultrasensitive passive RF modality for multi-sensor US Army cUAS systems. Use of the H-SiP will close the “RF Dark” Capability Gap for the US Army. Nokomis’ Hiawatha technology is well aligned to current counter-drone development and programmatic efforts within the Army. Nokomis stands ready to rapidly accelerate integration of its Hiawatha technology to maximize impact with current and future planned Army investments.