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Drones, the Air Littoral, and the Looming Irrelevance of the USAF


Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division, which is currently deployed in Romania, recently became the first Army unit to field the service’s newest reconnaissance drones.

The 317th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, out of Fort Drum, New York, employed the Skydio and GhostX systems during training operations at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, according to an Army release.

The Skydio X10D drone is a short-range recon aircraft that can fly up to 5 kilometers and stay aloft for approximately 30 minutes, according to the release. Typically, the Skydio is deployed by infantry and scout platoons on dismounted patrols, providing soldiers with a better snapshot of their immediate area during mission planning.

The GhostX, made by Anduril, goes a bit farther. It can fly up to 15 kilometers and stay in the air for an hour. This platform is geared toward a company commander’s needs in a larger area of operation.

You have to be a qualified aircraft operator before you’re able to put the aircraft in the air, so we run an initial qualification program for multiple units in our brigade,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Sweeny, counter-drone NCO in charge for Delta Company, 317th BEB.

During the late November training, the unit qualified 132 Skydio operators, according to the release.

“They can take the [Sydio] aircraft out of its case, assemble it, mission plan and get it in the air in less than 10 minutes,” Sweeny said.

Every company in the 3rd BCT is slated to receive a Skydio system
The drone certification process is MOS-agnostic.

“The end state of this whole exercise is to test the personnel, the structure of the platoon and the communication between the squads and how we work together as a whole,” said 1st Lt. Alexis Gavrillis, an intelligence officer in the battalion.
 

Maritime version of the VAMPIRE system now being offered.

Larger magazines available for the Marine environment. No reason to assume they couldn't be made available for the land environment.

1735253245784.png Ukrainian VAMPIRE with 4 Round Fletcher launcher

Arnold also manufactures a 23 round launcher that weighs 449 kg fully loaded with APKWS missiles

1735253582494.png1735253633888.png

No reason why it wouldn't be compatible with the Mission Master SP

 

9/24/2024

Defence technology company Anduril Australia today has announced it has closed a contract for a three-year trial with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to demonstrate Anduril's air and ground defence capabilities at RAAF Base Darwin which will support the defence of Australia's northern Defence bases against drones and other threats.

Anduril's base protection capability takes a Family of Systems approach, deploying a range of active and passive sensors, and kinetic and non-kinetic effectors. The system is tailored to RAAF Base Darwin's specific security requirements and Darwin's unique environment.

The system is powered by Lattice, an open architecture software platform that allows for effective integration and command and control of Anduril and third party sensors and effectors. Lattice enables 24/7 persistent awareness and autonomous detection, classification, and tracking of objects of interest. It alerts users to potential ground or airborne threats and prompts users with options for mitigation or engagement.

The contract with the Royal Australian Air Force will allow Anduril Australia to deliver counter drone and counter intrusion as a capability-as-a-service. Anduril Australia will maintain continuous hardware and software system updates, and develop and deploy new capability to ensure the system remains relevant and effective against the rapidly changing threat landscape. This future-proofs the system at no additional cost to the customer.

Anduril Australia Executive Chairman and CEO, David Goodrich OAM, said: "Current conflicts have shown us how rapidly warfare has developed. It is critical that advanced technology is in place to protect Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and equipment against air and ground attacks - now and into the future. Our capability-as-a-service approach is designed to anticipate and respond to rapid technological developments."

"Capability-as-a-service is new to defence industry, but frequently used in the tech industry where fast-moving developments need to be rapidly deployed. Hardware and software are regularly updated and upgraded as new developments are available. This is different to the traditional block upgrade process used in Defence where upgrades may only happen annually or even less frequently."

"Anduril's autonomous security capabilities provide 24x7 coverage against an extensive range of threats."

"Anduril is well known in Australia for its Ghost Shark maritime capability, but we are a multi-domain, multi-product company and I'm delighted to announce this contract with RAAF Base Darwin to share our proven counter UAS solution to provide the best technology to enhance protection of Australia's northern bases."

A spokesperson for the Royal Australian Air Force said: "The National Defence Strategy prioritises strengthening of our northern bases. This system will bring advanced technology to counter and deter intrusion of RAAF Base Darwin while building Defence's understanding of emerging capabilities that can help the ADF to meet future threats."

Anduril to supply "capability as service" defence to Canadian airports?
 
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