Small Unmanned Aerial System for Surveying the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) technology has evolved rapidly over the past two decades, allowing UASs to be extensively used for a wide range of purposes and military mission support functions. The A23B-T009 topic presented industry with very ambitious goals for the rapid survey of the electromagnetic spectrum across a relatively wide range of frequencies (3 MHz to 6 GHz), to include the precision geolocation of all detected signals. While ambitious, we are confident that these goals are achievable. We do, however, contend that traditional approaches to this problem will not suffice, and that employing new ways of looking at old problems will yield the most effective outcome for the Government.Ā We assess that successfully meeting all stated performance goals hinges on two key tenets: 1) breaking the problem down into specific areas that represent the toughest challenges, focusing on those more difficult areas first, and letting the overall design solution evolve around those elements, and 2) applying out-of-the-box thinking and non-conventional approaches from the beginning (e.g. applying multi-aspect/dimension sensing and processing concepts and techniques from non-radio frequency areas). Our technical proposal is rooted in both thoughts. Sabre Systems and Virginia Tech (Team Sabre/VT) are proud to propose a novel approach to UAS-based rapid signal detection and precision geolocation (PGL) that we believe will meet and/or exceed every technical goal put forth by the Government.