Pentagon launches $700M programme to combat ISIS drones

Last month, nearly a dozen army contractors took to the desert in New Mexico to test a range of new technologies to take down enemy drones.

While some of the tests were successful, Pentagon officials have warned that many of the technologies are ‘still immature’ and require ‘further development.’

In response, the Pentagon has launched a $700 million (£517 million) cash programme to combat ISIS’ lethal fleet of drones.

 

The Pentagon has launched a $700 million (£517 million) cash programme to combat ISIS’ lethal fleet of drones. Pictured is one of the ISIS drones that was recently captured

THE $700 MILLION PROGRAMME 

ISIS is increasingly using drones on the battlefield, and the Pentagon hopes that the new cash programme will help to combat these weapons.  

Some of the $700 million (£517 million) will go towards other events such as the one at White Sands Missile Range, where large contactors will take on smaller speciality technology companies, in testing new technologies.

Contestants are being told to develop technologies that can defeat drones with a ‘fly-swatter approach,’ according to the New York Times. 

ISIS is increasingly using drones on the battlefield, and the Pentagon hopes that the new cash programme will help to combat these weapons.

The tests last month at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico saw firms including Lockheed Martin and Boeing test technologies including laser guns and high-tech nets to take down enemy drones.

Lockheed Martin’s approach was a laser weapon system called ‘Athena’ that can deliver an invisible killing blow to take down an enemy drone. 

Athena is a ground-based system that can be mounted atop tanks and other vehicles.

But, one day, it could even be installed on military planes, helicopters, and ships.

Last month’s tests saw Athena up against five Outlaw unmanned drones, each with a 10.8-foot wingspan.

Using its advanced beam control technology and fiber laser, it managed to take down all five in an invisible attack from below.

‘The tests at White Sands against aerial targets validated our lethality models and replicated the results we’ve seen against static targets at our own test range,’ said Keoki Jackson, Lockheed Martin’s Chief Technology Officer. 

LOCKHEED MARTIN’S LASER  

Lockheed Martin’s laser is a beam combined fiber laser, meaning it brings together individual lasers, created through fiber optics, to generate a single, intense laser beam.

This allows for a scalable laser system that can be made more powerful by adding more fiber laser subunits.

Athena uses Lockheed Martin’s company’s 30-kW Accelerated Laser Demonstration Initiative (ALADIN). 

It’s powered by a compact Rolls-Royce turbo generator.

Army bosses hope the radical weapon will give protection against threats such as swarms of drones or large numbers of rockets and mortars. 

‘As we mature the technology behind laser weapon systems, we’re making the entire system more effective and moving closer to a laser weapon that will provide greater protection to our warfighters by taking on more sophisticated threats from a lower range.’ 

But while Lockheed Martin’s test went well, the results weren’t all positive.

Speaking to the New York Times, a spokesperson from the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organisation said: ‘Threat targets were very resilient against damage.

‘Bottom line: Most technologies still immature.’

The spokesperson added that some of the technology will need ‘adjustments and further development.’

Some of the $700 million (£517 million) will go towards other events such as the one at White Sands Missile Range, where large contactors will take on smaller speciality technology companies, in testing new technologies. 

The tests last month  saw firms test technologies including laser guns and high-tech nets to take down enemy drones. Lockheed Martin's approach was a laser weapon system called 'Athena'  (pictured) that can deliver an invisible killing blow to take down an enemy drone

The tests last month saw firms test technologies including laser guns and high-tech nets to take down enemy drones. Lockheed Martin’s approach was a laser weapon system called ‘Athena’  (pictured) that can deliver an invisible killing blow to take down an enemy drone

The hair-raising footage shows the moment flames burst from the tails of the flying drones one by one before they plummet toward the ground, as the silent attack causes both loss of control and structural failure

Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command conducted the tests in August, using the 30-kilowatt class Advanced Test High Energy Asset (Athena) system

The hair-raising footage of Lockheed Martin’s test shows the moment flames burst from the tails of the flying drones one by one before they plummet toward the ground, as the silent attack causes both loss of control and structural failure

Contestants are being told to develop technologies that can defeat drones with a ‘fly-swatter approach,’ according to the New York Times. 

Earlier this year, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) revealed its plans to buy and test 600 ‘Skynet’ anti-drone rounds from AMTEC Less Lethal Systems (ALS), according to The Drive.

These 12 gauge shotgun shells release a five foot net to trap the drone’s propellers causing it to fall from the sky.

And, the shells can be fired from standard Remington Model 870 shotguns. 

The move came as a result of the Department of Defense (DoD) tasking the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) ‘to provide a solution to counter an immediate unmanned aerial system (UAS) threat to vital national assets,’ according to the ‘Justification and Approval’ document.

The US Air Force is getting a new weapon to take down devious commercial drones. Called Skynet, these anti-drone 12 gauge shotgun shells release a five foot net to trap the drone's propellers causing it to fall from the sky

The US Air Force is getting a new weapon to take down devious commercial drones. Called Skynet, these anti-drone 12 gauge shotgun shells release a five foot net to trap the drone’s propellers causing it to fall from the sky

WHAT IS SKYNET? 

The US Air Force has contracted AMTEC Less Lethal Systems to use their technology to take down drowns.

Skynet is a 12 gauge anti-drone round designed to be rapidly deployed against commercially available drones being utilized for illegal purposes. 

The Air Force are able to shoot the shells from standard Remington Model 870 shotguns.

However, for the cartridge to function properly, shooters will first need to install a ‘choke tube’ to the gun’s muzzle – this is the only way to rotate Skynet once it is released.

Upon firing through a choke barrel, the five tethered segments separate with centrifugal force and create a five foot wide ‘capture net’ to effectively trap the drone’s propellers causing it to fail.

As well as launching the $700 million (£517 million) programme, the Pentagon has also sent drone experts to Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria to help train US troops.

Some of the drones used by ISIS are as small as model airplanes, meaning they’re extremely hard to detect.

J.D. Johnson, head of Army programmes for Raytheon, told the New York Times: ‘These things are really small and hard to detect, and if they swarm in groups, they can overload our ability to knock them all down.

‘The threat is very resilient and well-resourced, and we have to be looking one or two moves ahead to defeat it.’ 

Current technologies used to combat ISIS drones include an array of jammers, cannons and other devices to disrupt, disable or destroy the enemy weapons. 

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