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Defence seeking UAS signature reduction concepts

by Andrew McLaughlin
written by Andrew McLaughlin
The AAI Shadow 200 tactical unmanned aerial system is recovered post mission at Multi National Base - Tarin Kot. *** Local Caption *** Personnel deployed with the third Shadow Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) rotation in Afghanistan celebrated 10,000 operational hours on September 22. The AAI Shadow 200 tactical unmanned aerial system has been employed by the 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition Regiment in Uruzgan and achieved the operational milestone in just over 18 months. The gunners from 131st Surveillance and Target Acquisition Battery, Royal Australian Artillery along with Royal Australian Navy maintainers and image analysts from the 1st Topographical Survey Squadron deployed to Tarin Kot in April, 2013. Shadow has been used to conduct intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance missions to support Australian and coalition troops.

Defence is seeking proposals to reduce the visual and acoustic signatures of UAS from ground-based observation. (Defence)

Defence is inviting industry to submit innovative proposals to reduce the visual and acoustic signatures of unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

The proposals will be supported through the government’s Small Business Innovation Research for Defence (SBIRD) initiative of the Next Generation Technologies Fund, with funded proposals eligible for up to $100,000 for completion within nine months.

If successful, small to medium enterprises will be eligible to apply for funding to further support research and concept maturation within 24 months, with maximum funding of $750,000.

“Australian SMEs are great innovators and we want them to put forward innovative concepts to protect our UAS from being readily seen or heard in different environmental conditions,” Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said in a statement.

“Defence is looking for outcomes to reduce both the visual and acoustic detection of UAS from ground-based observation without disrupting the operation of the aircraft.”

Further information about the SBIRD program and how to submit proposals for this project is available from the Centre for Defence Industry Capability website.

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