The US Army and Air Force have trialed a smartphone app-controlled counter-drone solution at McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Poinsett Range, South Carolina.
CARPE Dronvm leverages crowd-sourced data to increase force protection on the future battlefield.
This approach enables users to report suspicious drones and maintain situational awareness for authorities and command centers.
The app was developed in partnership with MITRE Corporation to expand the unmanned aerial system (UAS) detection assets of the US Central Command.
“Countering the drone threat in the US Central Command area of responsibility is essential to keeping our personnel, aircraft, and equipment safe,” US Air Force Counter-UAS Chief Lt. Col. Steven Norris explained.
“Our MITRE partners have been helping make CARPE Dronvm a reality since 2019. Every single warfighter can help sense and warn, creating a comprehensive layered defense that will tie into our existing command and control architecture and increase awareness of threats in the region.”
Exceeding Expectations
During the trial, CARPE Dronvm demonstrated functionality to operate at the soldier level.
“We expanded the experiment footprint, covering 50 kilometers, with multiple individuals in the area using the CARPE Dronvm app. This was all to prove the CARPE Dronvm app works,” US Army Task Force 39 Operations Officer Maj. Travis Valley stated.
“It did, in fact it exceeded my expectations on the simplicity of use and the program’s drone detection ability. This has the potential as a Force Protection multiplier, adding another tool to help protect Soldiers in a deployed environment.”
Answer to ‘Cheap’ Weapons Systems
The US Central Command is focused on solutions similar to CARPE Dronvm to address the increase in aerial drone threats, as the systems are “relatively cheap” and are commonly a weapon of choice for potential adversaries.
“The UAS threat is a shared security challenge for the US and our regional partners,” US Army Central’s Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank said.
“The advanced measures we intend to pursue regarding innovation and experimentation will provide critical, real-time data to inform Army and Defense decisions on counter-UAS technologies.”