Counter-UAV Net Deployment for Rapid Drone Interception
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing threat of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) posing risks due to their speed, maneuverability, and ability to carry payloads, including explosives, presents a challenge in protecting large airspaces from accidental or deliberate collisions and attacks, as existing countermeasures are costly and complex to implement.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a plurality of counter-attack UAVs equipped with a flight control system and an aerial vehicle capture countermeasure, such as a net, that can detect and intercept target UAVs using an external detection system, facilitating coordinated capture and neutralization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing countermeasures are used to protect large airspace, then protection capability is improved, but cost and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the protection task into multiple independent counter-attack UAVs that operate autonomously. Each UAV is equipped with its own detection sensors and capture mechanisms, allowing the system to cover large airspace through distributed units rather than a single complex centralized system.
Solution Approach 2:
Each counter-attack UAV possesses autonomous capabilities including self-detection of target drones, self-navigation to intercept positions, and self-execution of capture operations. This self-service capability eliminates the need for complex ground control systems to manage each aspect of the countermeasure operation.
2Reliability
If countermeasures are deployed to neutralize target UAVs, then threat neutralization is improved, but response time is reduced due to detection and deployment delays
Solution Approach 1:
Counter-attack UAVs are pre-positioned within the protected airspace before any threat emerges. Detection sensors continuously monitor the environment, and UAVs remain in standby positions with capture mechanisms pre-loaded, enabling immediate response when a target drone is detected without requiring deployment from remote locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous detection and readiness states through persistent sensor operation and UAV positioning. This continuous surveillance and preparedness eliminate gaps in detection and response, ensuring that any intruding drone is detected and engaged without delay.
3Ease of manufacture
If inexpensive consumer drones are used for attacks, then accessibility and portability are improved, but payload capacity and threat level increase
Solution Approach 1:
The capture net is designed with dimensions and strength exceeding the maximum expected payload capacity of consumer drones. By oversizing the capture mechanism, the system ensures that even drones carrying heavy payloads up to 400 pounds will be successfully captured without requiring customization for each threat scenario.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for aerial neutralization of a detected target aerial vehicle comprises a plurality of counter-attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and an aerial vehicle capture countermeasure coupling together the plurality of counter-attack UAVs, to intercept and capture a detected target aerial vehicle in a coordinated manner. The system comprises an aerial vehicle detection system comprising at least one detection sensor operable to detect the target aerial vehicle, and operable to provide command data to at least one counter-attack UAV for tracking and neutralizing the target aerial vehicle. The counter-attack UAVs and a net can be deployed from a movable base station, and the net can be carried in a low-drag configuration until the counter-attack UAVs operate to deploy or open the net. The counter-attack UAVs and systems may be autonomously operated. Associated systems and methods are provided.