Elodie Collins
L3Harris Technologies has launched a new initiative aimed at identifying, tracking and defeating small unmanned autonomous systems across the air, land and sea domains. Called the Counter-Unmanned Systems, or C-UxS, the new initiative will bring together proven systems and other key battlefield technologies to offer complete end-to-end protection against drone threats, the company said Friday.
The Growing Threat of Small Drones
Small unmanned autonomous vehicles, or sUAVs, are affordable and easy to manufacture, making them suitable for large-scale swarm attacks. Due to advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 5G, drones are rapidly evolving and becoming more lethal, outpacing the development of products designed to defeat them.
“Traditional solutions that take years to produce are not a viable option when UAV software is maturing by the minute and hardware is changing by the hour,” explained Jon Rambeau, president of integrated mission systems, or IMS, at L3Harris.
C-UxS Program Leadership
Leading C-UxS is Tom Kirkland, vice president and general manager of the targeting and sensor systems sector at L3Harris IMS. Kirkland is a U.S. Army veteran who has also held leadership roles at Thales and CACI International.
For the initiative, the executive will oversee cross-functional teams across the company to make sure that all existing capabilities and novel technologies are considered to defeat enemy drones.
“Our Counter-Unmanned team is laser-focused on the safety of our warfighters and allied partners,” stated Kirkland. “Defeating this asymmetrical threat will require speed, creativity and teamwork.”
C-UxS Product Offerings
C-UxS covers L3Harris’ counter-unmanned systems, such as the Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Rocket Equipment, better known as VAMPIRE.
VAMPIRE is equipped with the company’s WESCAM MX RSTA targeting system and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System rocket to enable warfighters to identify and engage targets.
C-UxS may also combine C-UAS offerings with L3Harris’ mission management software Widow, next-generation multi-mission electromagnetic countermeasures, resilient communication networks and AMORPHOUS, Autonomous Multi-domain Operations Resiliency Platform for Heterogeneous Unmanned Swarms.
