America will send portable interceptor drones to Ukraine

Alexander Sychev

The company reported that they had already started training operators from Ukraine. The cost of the contract and the number of drones were not disclosed.

“Our predictions came true – drones have become an important component of combat in armed conflicts. We realized that we had to act quickly to create the technology needed to protect against surveillance and drone attacks”, - said Timothy Bean, CEO of Fortem Technologies, whose designers, it turns out, interacted with the military, including the Ukrainian one. Engineers probed the needs of the military and the features of the participation of drones in hostilities.

The company from the first years of its existence dreamed of connecting to the military budget. The Ukrainian order, if successful, will be the best promotion of all that could be imagined.

The result of in-depth interviews was a portable system based on the existing Fortem F700 interceptor drone, designed to protect the perimeter of various objects from intrusion by other UAVs in 2018. The owners of the company from Utah claim that the F700 was created specifically for the task of intercepting other UAVs from scratch. This is not entirely true. In their work, they relied on the Matrice 600 drone, a Chinese private company DJI.

Fortem F700 has been reduced and simplified. How its characteristics have changed is not specified. The standard F700, as well as its current simplified version, had six screws. Its body reached 1133 millimeters diagonally, and together with the screw brackets, the device is several times larger.

The mass of six lithium-ion batteries is about 10 kilograms, and the maximum takeoff weight of the drone was almost 16 kilograms. The maximum speed in calm weather was 65 kilometers per hour. He could rise at a speed of 5 meters per second, and decrease - three meters per second. The drone cannot be used in winds over eight meters per second.

Depending on the propellers used, the drone could rise to a maximum height of four thousand meters. Operating time depending on the size of the load - from 20 to 40 minutes.

The hunter drone has its own TrueView radar, with which it controls the perimeter. An on-board computer with an artificial intelligence algorithm identifies the encountered objects and determines the degree of their danger. In the control system, you can set the boundaries of the no-fly zone, within which protection will be carried out.

The hunt begins when ground-based radars detect an unidentified UAV in the air. The Ukrainian version probably does not exclude the visual detection of Russian drones or the use of NATO detection tools in neighboring states.

When the drone approaches the restricted area, DroneHunter is lifted into the air. Using the onboard radar, he tracks the target, and the optical surveillance camera allows you to view it from a distance of several hundred meters and transmit the image to the operator.

The peculiarity of the American interceptor drone is that it uses the GunNet web network to catch enemy drones.

The DroneHunter system can operate in three modes. In the first, the hunter drone simply shoots the net towards the violator of the no-fly zone, which, entangled, falls to the ground. In the second mode, the network is equipped with a parachute. This option is provided for drones larger than DroneHunter. Having become entangled, they pull out parachutes with their weight, which smoothly lower them to the ground.

In the third mode, the net remains attached to the hunter drone after the shot. This method is used to catch a small slow-flying, at a speed below 160 kilometers per hour, drone. Having caught it, the hunter drone is able to drag the prey to the operator or to the specified location.

The developers at Fortem consider the advantage of their system to be that captured drones do not fall on people's heads and do not destroy objects. In addition, especially interesting specimens can be disassembled and see other people's secrets. Finally, over the years of operation at civilian facilities and at various public events, the F700 has demonstrated high efficiency. DroneHunter F700 has captured more than 4500 UAVs, which corresponds to approximately 85% of all interception missions.

The drone can operate in a group. In this case, the company developed a special hangar for hunters mounted on a trailer. The car can be driven to the right place and left. Upon receipt of an alarm, DroneHunters fly out on a mission autonomously or with permission from an operations center, which may be at a decent distance.

SkyDome Manager C2 controls the coordination of the actions of many hunters in the air. The ground command center can participate in monitoring the interception operation and intervene in the operation of the drones if the situation requires it.