Teleldyne Flir Defense announced last month the launch of a new lightweight vehicle surveillance system for military drones.
Teledyne Flir Defense is a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies Inc., the Thousand Oaks aerospace, marine and imaging products manufacturer.
Mounted in the back of a pickup truck, the system uses a combination of 3D radar, electro-optical/infrared camera and radio frequency detection and mitigation sensors to provide early warning alerts and recognition. Small drone threats are detected and displayed simultaneously, showing position and elevation for all radar tracks, according to a release from Teledyne.
The system can also detect swarms of small drones by allowing operators to monitor up to 500 radar targets simultaneously. A multi-spectral imager captures key drone elements that help identify high-risk targets for a pinpointed response, the company’s release said.
JihFen Lei, executive vice president and general manager of Teledyne Flir Defense, said that protecting borders, shorelines and forward-operating bases is a job made even more difficult with the challenges posed by drones.
“The (lightweight vehicle surveillance system) combines sophisticated counter-drone technologies and countermeasures to make it the most effective mobile surveillance system available to combat these dangers,” Lei said in a statement.
The announcement follows by three weeks the release of a whitepaper from Teledyne Flir about anti-drone measures that can be taken to address the threat to life and property posed by the weaponized use of small drones.
The paper, “The Big Problem with Small Drones (and How to Address It),” examines how governments worldwide face a growing need for flexible and affordable counter-drone solutions, according to a release from Teledyne.
David Cullin, vice president and general manager of Unmanned and Integrated Solutions at Teledyne Flir Defense, said there is no “silver bullet” when it comes to countering the risks of weaponized drones in the hands of bad people.
“What we’ve learned is that governments must address a host of challenges in concert to optimize their defense readiness in the face of (drone) attacks,” Cullin said in a statement.
Key findings from a series of experts working with Teledyne Flir include:
Counter-drone solutions must be cost effective and leverage existing technologies; modern counter-drone systems must be able to operate in environments in which adversaries can disrupt their ability to find, track, target, engage and assess threats; and current and future (anti-drone) systems must be flexible in employing both hard kill (kinetic) and soft kill (non-kinetic) countermeasures, allowing them to operate anywhere in the world.
“Nations around the globe are spending millions of dollars on commercially built counter-drone solutions to address the immediate risks posed by these threats,” Cullin continued in his statement. “But they need to approach the problem smartly, both from a technology and cost perspective.”