Review of Current C-UAS Frameworks (Methods & Technologies)

There are 7 types of technologies used to detect, track and identify (DTI) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS): radars, visible light (VIS) cameras, thermal imaging cameras, infrared (IR) sensors, laser distance finders – lidars, frequency monitoring devices and acoustic sensors. The above technologies are described in this document. After a review of solutions available on the market for DTI of drones, a summary table of companies and their system solutions was created (it is included in Table of available C-UAS). The basic parameters of the technology are given, such as: ranges, fields of view (in elevation and azimuth), frequencies they use, are those technologies omnidirectional or the number of sectors covered by the technology field of view, whether the system detects the drone, its operator or the communication between them, is the system equipped with artificial intelligence, or has it the ability to learn in a new given environment, etc. In addition, the operational parameters of the systems are also given, such as: mobility of the system (is it fixed, mobile, handheld, vehicular), whether it contains control software, type of power supply, the possibility of extending a given system with other technologies, the number of operators necessary to operate it, the difficulty of using the user interface, or the time needed to set up the equipment.
The quality, ranges, the multitude of sensors used for C-UAS and finally the choice of a given technology for a specific application is a big challenge. In addition, there are no metrics that would make it possible to compare the necessary parameters of various technologies with each other. Another problem is the possibility of using several different technologies in one C-UAS solution. Therefore, this document is an attempt to enumerate the advantages and disadvantages of all technologies and their combinations, in order to develop comparative metrics for C-UAS solutions, in the next step of the project. In addition, the document indicates the legitimacy of using a given technology or combination of technologies in a specific application. This document is also an introduction to proposing a methodology for conducting field tests of selected C-UAS solutions, as it indicates the limitations resulting from the physical basis of the technology as well as the limitations resulting from the design and usability of the technology.