Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS)

The Counter small Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-sUAS) Family of Systems (FoS) program was funded to provide initial material solutions to SECNAV-prioritized locations CONUS and OCONUS with baseline electronic warfare (EW) capabilities to detect, track, identify, and defeat sUAS over a large coverage area. Following initial material deployment, the program continues to expand the capabilities of select, high priority systems and adapt new solutions to defeat evolving threats. The initial material solution included CORIAN, Ninja, DroneDefender, and DroneBuster. Expanded solutions include EO/IR, radar, C2, new EW detect/defeat capabilities, alternative sensors, and additional kinetic and non-kinetic mitigations needed to prepare, maintain, and upkeep force protection, self-defense and operational capabilities against the ever-evolving sUAS threat. Funding is provided to protect high-value and/or critical Navy assets and support public safety against threats by inadvertent or unlawful misuse of sUAS. FY27 increase will provide system assessments, intra-service technology capitalization, and refinement of open architecture solutions and interoperability standards of fixed facility Navy Sites with joint C-UxS systems and with C-UxsS syetms on Navy Ships. Funding also provides for government engineering support for the technology development and acquisition strategy for fielding material solutions that will help C-Uxs systems to evolve to rapidly evolving UAS capabilities.

The DRAKE Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS) is an Electronic Warfare (EW) Force Protection system designed to detect, identify, track, and defeat small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) for afloat naval forces. The DRAKE system will be upgraded with improved radios, processors, and display units to meet the non-kinetic requirements established in the OPNAV DRAKE Top Level Requirement (TLR). The program will utilize Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware for the display and custom, software and hardware in the Increment 1 tech refresh. Increment 1 upgrades will focus on refreshing the core technology to replace legacy hardware with the latest processors/controllers, which will significantly increase signal processing speed and bandwidth (NextGen SDR). These improvements will enable the system to counter more advanced commercial sUAS efficiently. A COTS tablet-like Graphical User Interface (GUI) called the Control Display Unit (CDU) 2.0 will replace the legacy CDU, providing enhanced visual tracking and identification data of UAS. This upgrade will ultimately improve situational awareness and signal analysis for the warfighter. In Increment 2, the DRAKE system will be integrated with ships' Command and Control with optimized antennas for C-sUAS mission to enhance ships' situational awareness and prosecution of UAS threats. Prior to FY23, DRAKE C-UAS funding can be found in PE 0603654N/Project 3177.