Ireland Degges
Two technologies developed by an RTX business have shown success in detecting and defeating unmanned aircraft vehicles.
In an assessment that took place during the U.S. Army’s annual summer test period, Raytheon’s KuRFS and Coyote, which make up a portion of the service branch’s Low, slow, small-unmanned aircraft Integrated Defense System, demonstrated the ability to take down multiple types of targets, the company announced from Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona on Wednesday.
Tom Laliberty, president of land and air defense systems at Raytheon, called the evaluation “another milestone in the proven track record” of the organization’s counter-UAS capabilities.
The accomplishment was preceded by success in the Army’s 2021 and 2022 summer test periods. This year, KuRFS and Coyote reached all assessment requirements against high-speed, maneuvering targets. Both technologies recently underwent hardware and software upgrades to improve performance.
During the evaluation period, KuRFS, a 360-degree radar, was put through a stress test in which it was able to detect and track a complex swarm of over 30 unmanned aircraft vehicles. Coyote defeated both single and swarm targets, which shortened engagement timelines to combat several threats.
“As the threat of unmanned systems continues to grow, the performance and reliability of a complete C-UAS system is critical – and we remain committed to the continuous improvement of these systems to provide our customers with an effective solution to stay ahead of the threat,” said Laliberty.
Raytheon recently won a $237 million Army contract for both fixed-site and mobile KuRFS and Coyote systems to integrate into LIDS, which also comprises Northrop Grumman’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control system. Issued in April, the award is designed to assist Central Command operations.
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