DSEI 2015: Airbus DS reveals new system for detecting and defeating UAVs

Airbus Defence and Space (DS) revealed during the DSEI 2015 exhibition in London a new system for detecting and neutralising unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The system, which was publicised on 16 September, uses sensor data from different sources, which it combines with the latest data fusion, signal analysis and jamming technologies to detect and defeat illicit UAVs at ranges of between 5 and 10 km.

It uses operational radars, infrared (IR) cameras and direction finders from Airbus DS’s portfolio to identify the UAV and assess its threat potential. Specifically, the sensors used are the Airbus DS (formerly Cassidian Electronics and EADS Defence Electronics) SPEXER 500 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the Airbus DS (formerly Carl Zeiss Optronics) Z:NightOwl IR camera.

The SPEXER 500 is designed for use in camp protection, perimeter security, and the protection of critical national infrastructure. It was developed for tracking and detecting ground and low-flying targets in areas with a limited line of sight, for example due to hills. The Z:NightOwl IR camera long-range system is intended for the surveillance of borders, coastlines, and critical infrastructure sites.

A company representative told IHS Jane’s that, depending on scenarios and customer requirements, these detection systems are combined with the MRD7 direction finder and with the Airbus DS VPJ-R6 multirole jammer.

As noted by the representative, the VPJ-R6 uses the ultra-fast Scalable Multi-purpose Aerospace Radar Technology (SMART) responsive jamming to provide higher protection levels than conventional systems.

“Thanks to new digital-receiver and signal-processing technologies, the system achieves reaction times of well below a millisecond,” he said. “The jamming power is focused on the detonation signal’s specific frequency instead of being distributed over the whole frequency range, as is the case in conventional systems. The combination of the jamming functionality with [electronic support measures] ESM in a mobile device allows more detailed information on potential threats to be obtained, which in turn significantly improves target effectiveness.” The jamming signals block only the relevant frequencies used to operate the UAV, while other frequencies in the vicinity remain operational.

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