After an eight-month sprint to develop and install a laser-equipped counter-unmanned aircraft system on an Army Stryker vehicle, Leonardo DRS and BlueHalo announced today that they completed a successful live-fire test last month in New Mexico of the system.
The Stryker-based directed energy Counter-UAS prototype, called C-UAS DE Stryker, can detect, identify and track multiple drone threats and use both kinetic and non-kinetic means to neutralize them. During the demonstration, the system destroyed multiple unmanned systems, proving it could track and engage targets almost simultaneously with a laser or a kinetic effector such as a cannon or rifle.
“During two days of live fire activity immediately after our initial testing, the system was 14 out of 14 against small UAS within range limitations,” Ed House, Leonardo’s senior director of business development for land systems, told Defense News. “All of these were defeated by the 26-kilowatt Locust laser weapon system fully integrated into a modified Stryker.”
With BlueHalo’s Locust laser weapon at the center of the project, Leonardo DRS served as the key integrator, also providing cameras and the system’s computer. Six other companies also provided subsystem support, including BAE Systems, EOS Defense, Arnold Defense, Northrop Grumman, Digital Systems Engineering and Ampex.
The integration efforts and demonstrations were funded by the “coalition” of industry partners, House said, noting that the Army provided a Stryker for the project.
The flexibility to use multiple effectors and integrate a range of payloads from different providers is a key feature of the effort, House noted. Also important is the power source of the laser. Instead of running on a battery like most directed energy systems, Leonardo and BlueHalo were able to integrate the Locust’s energy system into the vehicle, eliminating the need to charge the battery between cycles.
“The only limiting factor we have on this Stryker is thermal management, and that means as long as we keep the laser cool, we can keep working over and over again,” House said. “If you add laser technology – directed energy – without power limitation, you expand the warehouse.”
The demonstration has drawn some interest from the military, House added. In the coming weeks, the team will complete some final integration efforts on the vehicle and in December it will participate in a two-week concept verification effort at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, run by the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office of the Army. .
Data from that verification event and the September demonstration will determine the next steps for the DE Stryker.
Mary Clum, vice president of BlueHalo, said that after the demonstrations, the team will shift focus to manufacturing and scaling the technology. The company is currently building its manufacturing capacity for Locust so that the system is available when it is needed to integrate with a range of systems.
“As we scale up production, we are making it multi-functional,” she said, noting that it has already been installed on an infantry unit vehicle and the Army’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. “We want to show that you can use that with what’s in inventory today.”
