Photo: AeroVironment
The most effective way to counter a drone is not to shoot it down or to otherwise physically incapacitate it, but to jam the hell out of it, until it no longer knows where it is and what it is supposed to do. We see that happening time and again in the hot spots of our world, where wars are waging.
But as for any action there is a counter-action, drones are getting increasingly better at operating in such contested environments. And we get a glimpse of such an evolution if we look at an announcement made last week by defense contractor AeroVironment.
The name is one of the most important ones in the field of military drones. It makes anything from small and medium flying drones to loitering munition systems and uncrewed ground vehicles. Its expertise was even used by NASA in the development of the Ingenuity helicopter that was delivered to Mars together with the Perseverance rover a few years back.
One of the most impressive products in the company's portfolio is a drone family called Puma. Currently comprising two variants (3 AE and LE), the family is mostly used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, and can be launched in a variety of ways, including by hand.
That means they are most of the time at the forefront of any military operation, and that puts them in harms way, especially when having to deal with "unreliable, unavailable or deliberately jammed" GNSS and communications signals.
As with other drones out there, the Pumas were capable to some extent of handling themselves in such scenarios, but thanks to a new software update AeroVironment released recently, these capabilities will grow some more.
The defense contractor introduced the so-called Project GOLD suite of software-only upgrades in a bid to give Pumas more edge in operating when enemy jammers are at work. Thanks to the suite, they will be able to "maintain reliable navigation and mission performance" no matter what the enemy throws at it.
The new features Pumas get as a result of using Project GOLD include additional capabilities in GNSS denied environments, improved visual navigation, and enhanced radio security. Somehow, AeroVironment managed to increase the drone's payload capacity with this software upgrade, boosting the total weight it can carry (which in the 3 AE version is 15 pounds and in the LE 5.5 pounds) by as much as 60 percent.
The new systems will be deployed in all newly-made Pumas, while for the existing ones they’ll be offered as update software kits. None of the drones that get Project Gold will have to be physically modified in any way.
There are plans to use the new solution in future vehicles made by AeroVironment, but at the time of writing we are not told which vehicles those could be.
The name is one of the most important ones in the field of military drones. It makes anything from small and medium flying drones to loitering munition systems and uncrewed ground vehicles. Its expertise was even used by NASA in the development of the Ingenuity helicopter that was delivered to Mars together with the Perseverance rover a few years back.
One of the most impressive products in the company's portfolio is a drone family called Puma. Currently comprising two variants (3 AE and LE), the family is mostly used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, and can be launched in a variety of ways, including by hand.
That means they are most of the time at the forefront of any military operation, and that puts them in harms way, especially when having to deal with "unreliable, unavailable or deliberately jammed" GNSS and communications signals.
As with other drones out there, the Pumas were capable to some extent of handling themselves in such scenarios, but thanks to a new software update AeroVironment released recently, these capabilities will grow some more.
The defense contractor introduced the so-called Project GOLD suite of software-only upgrades in a bid to give Pumas more edge in operating when enemy jammers are at work. Thanks to the suite, they will be able to "maintain reliable navigation and mission performance" no matter what the enemy throws at it.
The new features Pumas get as a result of using Project GOLD include additional capabilities in GNSS denied environments, improved visual navigation, and enhanced radio security. Somehow, AeroVironment managed to increase the drone's payload capacity with this software upgrade, boosting the total weight it can carry (which in the 3 AE version is 15 pounds and in the LE 5.5 pounds) by as much as 60 percent.
The new systems will be deployed in all newly-made Pumas, while for the existing ones they’ll be offered as update software kits. None of the drones that get Project Gold will have to be physically modified in any way.
There are plans to use the new solution in future vehicles made by AeroVironment, but at the time of writing we are not told which vehicles those could be.
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