The United States military has finally come up with a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) solution developed jointly with Israel, for the US Special Forces.
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The system developed, known as Skylord or Sparrowhawk, has been developed by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, drone developer XTEND, and the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office of the US Department of Defense.
The system’s selection was made after a year of extensive testing and developments. According to reports, the research program has produced an effective drone system with a remote ‘immersive interface’, more like the FPV drones, which protects troops from sUAS devices.
Head of the UAV Branch in the DDR&D of the Ministry of Defense, Lt. Col. Menachem Landau, stated “This joint activity implements novel technological capabilities taken from the field of AR (augmented reality), and the from world of gaming,” talking about the user-friendliness of the system.
“It enables the troops of both the nations to employ intuitive, battle-proven, and precise systems to follow a minimal training period and to engage hostile flying objects such as drones.
We look forward to expanding our collaboration with our partners in the CTTSO of the U.S. Department of Defense, in developing advanced technology protect troops and enhance operational capabilities,” he added.
The Sparrowhawk system uses a drone controlled with Augmented Reality or FPV-type gadgets with advanced targeting systems. The drone operator then chooses to either ram the hostile UAS or carry a net to entangle its blades and put it out of action. The Sparrowhawk can go up to the speeds of 300 km/h and carry up to 1 kg of variable payload, according to the company.
Talking about the partnerships, the XTEND CEO, Aviv Shapira said, “We have established amazing partnerships in the development, and fielding this product for the operational end-user.”
“The Sparrowhawk is one of the world’s most advanced C-UAS Hard Kill solution, and the XTEND team is thrilled at the opportunity to deploy our systems in operational missions – and to protect the lives of both US & IDF combat soldiers,” he added.
