Army wants to increase training capabilities for 'threat' unmanned systems

The Army is aiming to increase the training capabilities for "threat" unmanned aerial systems with a request for information issued last week.

The service is trying to create a “realistic training environment” that represents current and future UAS threats. The challenge for the Army will be to replicate “highly adaptive and innovative adversaries/enemies creating unexpected, lethal and non-lethal effects across multiple domains and dimensions of the” operational environment, the notice states.

The Army is particularly concerned with UAS threats that fall into groups 1 through 3, which are those weighing less than 1,320 pounds, according to the Pentagon’s classification system. The service is most concerned with that size drone because they can operate “within proximity to friendly forces undetected” and can fly low, underneath traditional radar detection zones.

The RFI states drones in this category “fly very slow and can even hover in place, preventing any doppler-based sensor from detecting them.” Additionally, their small size makes it difficult to hit with direct-fire weapons.

The government is asking for additional live training systems capabilities for group 2 and 3 drones to challenge soldiers when using counter UAS tactics, and to evolve counter UAS technologies during training. The capabilities should address soldiers’ need to survive in a “congested, contested and dynamic air domain” created by enemy UAS capabilities, the RFI states.

The government is asking for industry responses by Sept. 11.