Army asks SRC to build and deploy counter-drone system to protect expeditionary forces from enemy UAVs
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – U.S. Army counter-unmanned aircraft experts are asking Syracuse Research Corp. (SRC) in North Syracuse, N.Y., to build and deploy ruggedized counter-drone systems designed to destroy or disable enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a $425.9 million five-year contract to SRC on Thursday for development, production, deployment and support of the Expeditionary-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (E-LIDS).
E-LIDS will to shield U.S. and allied expeditionary forces from UAV-based improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as from more sophisticated enemy use of UAVs to attack military forces or civilian targets with deliver explosives.
This is the second big contract within a week for vehicle-mount counter-UAV systems. Also last week the Leonardo DRS Land Systems segment in St. Louis won a $189.8 million five-year contract to develop and build the Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS) to detect, destroy, or disable small, inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like commercial quadcopters that are operating as airborne improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
SRC will design E-LIDS to counter enemy armed and intelligence gathering UAV’s operating at various speeds and altitudes, which are targeting U.S. military forces.
SRC has special expertise in counter-UAV systems, and offers the Silent Archer counter-UAS system, which detects, tracks, classifies, identifies, and disrupts low, slow, and small unmanned airborne threats, commonly referred to as drones.
SRC's Silent Archer combines radar and electronic warfare (EW) systems, a camera, and a 3-D user display to defeat hostile drones operating singly or in pairs, as well as in swarms.
Silent Archer first provides spatial, frequency, and optical surveillance capabilities to detect, track, classify and identify the airborne threat, and then applies low-cost electronic methods to disrupt the UAS, such as jamming the communications links between the operator and the aircraft, SRC officials say.
SRC's counter-UAV system is for force protection in contested environments; critical infrastructure protection; security for VIPs and high profile events; and urban environment surveillance.
SRC experts have demonstrated the Silent Archer anti-drone system at U.S. government-sponsored counter-UAS test events like the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization (JIAMDO) Black Dart counter-drone exercise at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; the Army Warfighting Assessment (AWA) technology assessments; Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) events; and Maneuvers and Fires Integrated Exercise (MFIX) experiments at Fort Benning, Ga., SRC officials say.
Silent Archer comes in three different configurations: expeditionary for use on tactical combat vehicles; fixed site for use at permanent installations; and fly-away kit for quick-deployment use at overseas military operations.
The system's open architecture and sensor-agnostic design supports offers capabilities in direction finding; line-of-bearing information; and wireless networking for communicating among systems and command-and-control centers.
On this contract SRC will do the work at locations to be determined with each order, and should be finished by July 2025. For more information contact SRC online at www.srcinc.com, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa/.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
