US Army to use drones to hunt and kill drones

The US Army will use Raytheon’s Coyote® unmanned aircraft system and the KRFS radar – which stands for Ku band radio frequency system – to counter the escalating threat of enemy unmanned aerial vehicles in the skies above the battlefield.

CAPTION: Coyote unmanned aerial vehicle in flight. Raytheon photo.

Coyote is small, expendable and tube-launched UAV that can be deployed from the ground, air or a ship.

Coyotes can be flown individually or netted together in swarms, and are adaptable for a variety of missions including surveillance, electronic warfare and strike.

Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president Thomas Bussing said enemy unmanned aircraft were among the biggest threats facing ground troops today.

“Our small, expendable Coyote provides the Army with an affordable and highly effective solution for countering the growing UAS threat,” Dr Bussing said.

“Raytheon is finalising development of advanced Coyote variants that will fly faster and farther.

“Because of an urgent operational need, the Army is expected to use Coyote as a counter-UAS solution before the end of the year.”

Raytheon Mission Systems and Sensors vice president Dave Gulla said the KRFS radar in use today was a multi-mission radar providing rocket, artillery and mortar, sense and warn, and counter-UAS mission capabilities.

“Its accuracy enables significant UAS mission performance including precision fire control and UAS swarm scenarios at tactically significant distances,” Mr Gulla said.

“The warfighter needs a complete mission solution to successfully counter UAS threats.

“Our quickly transportable system that tracks low-swarming threats with KRFS and eliminates those threats with Coyote, is a game changer for the US Army.”

Raytheon has delivered 40 KRFS radars to date, with more than 32 deployed by the US Army.

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