Countering Drones Phase 2

Key Features

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking proposals that can develop the technology needed to counter Unmanned Air Systems (C-UAS) and demonstrate how these can be integrated together to form a capable system.

Programme:     DASA

Award:     Share of up to £1.5 million

Opens: 12th May 2020

Closes: 21st Jul 2020

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

This is Phase 2 of DASA’s Countering Drones competition. In Phase 2, DASA seek to mature components towards military and security stakeholders future operational needs and where sufficiently mature integrate these technologies into a counter drone system; performing wide area detection, positively identify a threat, accurately track its location, successfully deny or defeat it.

Scope

There are three challenges in this competition that are consistent with and build on the Phase 1 themes. Your proposal must meet one or more of these challenges. They are:

Challenge 1 – Fixed Site Protection

This challenge is focused on providing protection from small UAS to fixed sites, including airfields, domestic infrastructure and large-scale deployed operating bases.

Technology solutions will be required to provide persistent protection, including the ability to:

  • detect and track each UAV
  • differentiate between weaponised and decoy UAVs
  • assist the user in the decision to deploy appropriate mitigation solutions
  • locate the launch and return point (if applicable)

Challenge 2 – Mobile Protection (mounted and dismounted)

This challenge is focused on providing mobile C-UAS solutions. The key requirement is for C-UAS solutions that have low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) and are operable in a moving, contested environment. The purpose is to enable them to be mounted on vehicles or carried by personnel, and provide mitigation of UAS whilst on the move.

Challenge 3 – Maritime Protection

The focus of this challenge is on providing C-UAS capability to Royal Navy ships. The need is for detection systems and effectors suitable for use in the maritime environment.

C-UAS will be required to:

  • detect and warn of the presence of the surveillance UAS
  • prevent the surveillance UAS from obtaining targeting data, without physically defeating it
  • provide timely detection and defeat of attacking UAS

There is further scope information on all 3 of the challenges here.
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Funding Costs

Please note this is the second phase of funding for a multi-phase competition. It is not compulsory to have been involved in previous phases to apply.

The total funding available for Phase 2 of this competition is anticipated to be at least £1.5M.

Individual proposals are expected to be in the range £250-£350K.

The upper-limit for this competition is £350K (ex VAT).

If successful, contracts will be awarded for a maximum duration of 12 months.

What DASA are looking for

DASA want solutions to benefit users working in UK defence and security.

Your proposal should include evidence of:

  • an innovative approach to development
  • clear enhancement over existing C-UAS options
  • C-UAS Solutions, or a clear explanation of how technologies can be integrated into solutions
  • clear explanation of how the work can be exploited

DASA are aiming to harness advances in integration, sensing, fusion, autonomy and non-lethal effectors to provide solutions to UK defence to counter an adversary’s use of UAS across the battlefield, while preventing or minimising collateral damage. Some of these developments may also be applicable to the security challenge faced in the civilian sector.

This could include systems or components that deliver or enable:

  • flexible and rapid multi-modal integration, particularly adopting the SAPIENT concept(s)
  • low cost, efficient, automated sensors, particularly those compliant with SAPIENT
  • automated and networked sensing systems over wide and complex areas
  • methods of robustly defeating or denying current and next generation UAS in a range of scenarios and environments
  • significant and rapid improvements to extant systems for deployment
  • autonomous decision making
  • signal processing to improve discrimination and identification
  • approaches which may use and extend the capability of existing sensing systems, such as CCTV
  • ability to identify, locate and track the UAS operator
  • airborne or expendable solutions

Exclusions

For this competition DASA are not interested in proposals that:

  • constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews which just summarise the existing literature without any view of future innovation
  • are an identical resubmission of a previous bid to DASA or MOD without modification
  • offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
  • offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
  • offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions
  • offer manpower intensive detect, track and identification solutions
  • offer standard barrage jamming
  • offer highly bespoke, closed or crude integration
  • offer low potential for cost efficiency