Army lab seeking industry solutions to protect armored vehicles from small drones

The innovation lab under Army Futures Command has announced it is surveying industry for protective technologies to shield armored vehicles against small, cheap drones that have proven lethal against tanks and other pricey weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war.

“The proliferation and effectiveness of these low-cost systems pose a significant threat across multiple U.S. Combatant Commands (COCOMs), highlighting opportunities for innovative and enhanced protection strategies for the armored force,” a call for white papers from the Army Applications Laboratory says.

The June 4 announcement asks for counter small unmanned aerial systems as part of “layered protection” for its vehicles, including the M1 Abrams and Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The Army wants “individual vehicle self-protection strategies,” which it refers to as the “last line of defense.”

The Army expects to award at least one company with a six-to-eight-month performance period at a rate not more than $1 million, according to the announcement. It includes a stipulation that submissions must be for protection that won’t require soldiers to open the hatch on their vehicle.

“As evidenced by recent events in the Ukraine, the results of these attacks may also result in the vehicle’s hatch being open while under attack,” the solicitation says. “When the vehicle’s hatch is open, soldiers become vulnerable to additional targeted attacks and soldier survivability is diminished.”

The Army is also on the lookout for protection systems that won’t interrupt vehicle functionality, like movement, weapons or antennas; nor does it want technology that affects the vehicle’s weight or power or overburdens the crew -- and it needs to be able to operate with “existing command and control systems,” according to the service.

First-person view small drones have proven their worth on the battlefield, as evidenced as recently as June 1, when 117 UAS dealt $7 billion of damage to Russian aircraft as part of Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web, which has further driven home the Army’s call for agile investments in drone, counter-drone and electronic warfare capabilities as it seeks to carry out its transformation initiative.

“We saw what happened in Russia with the Ukrainian drone attack,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), said at last week’s Army posture hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, adding that it is a “really sobering reminder on how modern warfare is changing and how we need to adapt.”

The call to industry is part of a special topic under the laboratory’s Broad Agency Announcement for Disruptive Applications. Companies that submit white papers have a July 6 deadline; from there the Army will choose a select few to put forth a proposal by July 14, which should lead to a full submission by the end of the month.

A “tentative contract award date” is set for Sept. 30.