Key Features
This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking proposals that enhance physical defensive countermeasures which can be used to mitigate a Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) kinetic attack.
Programme: DASA
Award: Share of up to £750,000
Opens: 17th Apr 2024
Closes: 13th Jun 2024
This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking proposals that enhance physical defensive countermeasures which can be used to mitigate a Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) kinetic attack. The Counter UAS (C-UAS) technology market currently focuses on targeting the UAS in flight. The competition aims to shift away from conventional C-UAS methods and instead explores the most effective ways to physically safeguard various assets from hostile UAS. This includes options for hardening the asset, providing blanket last ditch defence and deploying automated alerts for incoming hostile UAVs.
This competition is funded by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the Home Office and Dstl.
The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how vulnerable a wide range of military and civilian assets can be to UAS being used as part of a kinetic attack. The conflict has therefore seen widespread deployment of C-UAS capabilities, such as Detect, Track, and Identify (DTI) technologies, as well as electronic or kinetic effectors to stop a UAS n flight.
The widespread use of UAS has demonstrated three main limitations in the deployments of C-UAS technologies:
These factors highlight the need to go back to basics and underpin C-UAS technology with physical last ditch security countermeasures which can mitigate the effects of a kinetic UAS attack. The C-UAS technology market currently focuses on targeting the UAS in flight; an outer line of defence. This competition complements this work by concentrating on how best to protect an asset from an air raid by hostile UAS, including scenarios where the outer line of defense is breached or absent.
These measures will be the last line of defence when all other mitigations have proven ineffective. It is anticipated that these physical security countermeasures will provide a vital role in protecting critical assets and infrastructure around the UK, and also have a military application for protecting assets overseas.
The importance of protective security and the need to strengthen this aspect of the UK’s C-UAS mitigation toolkit is a key focus for government. For more information on the C-UAS approach taken by government, the 2019 UK Counter-Uncrewed Aircraft Strategy can be found here and the refreshed UK Drone Security strategy is expected to be released mid 2024. This competition will address near term requirements as well as developing an understanding of potential future options and needs in this growing capability area.
Home Office, NPSA and Dstl are inviting industry to leverage novel physical protective countermeasures that can be utilised to reduce, or completely mitigate, the threat posed by one or more UAS being used as a weapon to fly into an asset and/or drop an explosive payload onto an asset.
The size of the protected asset can range from a single person through to a vehicle or a large building. Proposals need to outline the expected protection envelop from their proposed solutions in order to allow the authority to scope the proposal against a range of end use cases within three scenarios. The scenarios will be delivered as Government Furnished Information (GFI) and will cover:
A range of successful bids will be supported to provide proof-of-concept trials, based upon the three scenarios, demonstrating the ability of the working design to protect an asset from an inbound UAS air raid. The competition is seeking a range of proposals:
A variety of physical defensive approaches have been employed in the recent past to counter UAS attacks against both mobile assets and fixed installations. In recent conflicts, for example, protective canopies have been used to reduce the effect of UAS strikes/munition drops for assets on the move. The issue with such approaches is that they can be seen by opposing forces who can then plan and adopt alternative attack approaches to counter them. This competition seeks to move us beyond such limitations by introducing innovative approaches where protective capability can be deployed in a covert or discreet manner and activated automatically, where necessary, at the point of need.
As a minimum, the system needs to be rapidly deployable either by an operator or automatically as the last line of defence to protect an asset. However, the ideal system should be capable of passive deployment without the need for human intervention. Either way, the system may require a degree of early warning which could come from an existing UAS Detect, Track and Identify technology.
Out of scope ideas for this competition include established off the shelf technology which looks to directly interdict the air vehicle either;
DASA want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK Defence and Security. Your proposal should include evidence of:
The competition has two challenges which aim to address the increasing threat against the security of UK military forces at home and abroad, as well as civilian assets, VIPs and the wider public. We are looking for responses that will contribute to solutions to at least one of the two challenges below.
This challenge is focused on providing protection to temporarily static or permanently fixed assets from hostile UAS, including assets that are either important to the functioning of a site or may pose a hazard to life or other assets if targeted in an attack.
An example scenario might include providing last ditch protection to pressurised fuel supply or storage systems at a refuelling station within Critical National Infrastructure against a hostile Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) carrying an explosive, where primary C-UAS systems have proven ineffective.
The solution should be deployable in a covert manner, easily hidden or masked so that basic reconnaissance will not result in the threat actor redirecting a mission to avoid the physical countermeasures deployed. An ideal solution should be rapidly deployable by a remote operator if there is a credible UAS threat inbound.
For temporary assets, the solution needs to be easily redeployable, i.e. portable or semi-portable, so that it can be easily moved if the asset changes location or as the threat changes.
This challenge is focused on providing protection from hostile UAS to a moving asset. This might include a land or maritime vehicle, convoy of vehicles, or a person.
A typical example might include providing last resort protection to a protected person in a moving vehicle against an attack from a UAV, or protecting an asset in transport which may pose a hazard to life or other assets should it be subjected to an attack.
Such systems need to be fully portable rather than easily deployable so that they can be moved with the asset as it changes location or as the threat changes, as well as rapidly deployable/initiated remotely to protect the asset as the last line of defence if there is a credible UAS threat inbound.
DASA need a solution that can be deployable in a covert manner, easily hidden or masked so that basic reconnaissance will not result in the threat actor redirecting a mission to avoid the physical countermeasures deployed.
For further information on the competition, please see guidance notes here
DASA are not interested in proposals that:
The total funding available for this competition is £750,000 (excluding VAT).
Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.
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