The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is excited to announce a new Themed Competition titled “Protecting Physical Assets from UAS Attack.” This initiative is co-funded by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the UK Home Office, and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

The agencies seek proposals for defensive solutions to safeguard physical assets against kinetic attacks by Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS). While existing Counter-UAS (C-UAS) technologies primarily target UAS during flight, this competition seeks innovative approaches to enhance the physical protection of assets against hostile UAS. Proposals may include asset-hardening strategies, last-resort defense mechanisms, and automated alert systems for detecting incoming hostile UAS.

Contexte

Les Ukraine conflict has underscored how assets are vulnerable to roaming UAS attacks. The war has witnessed the extensive use of C-UAS capabilities, including Detect, Track, and Identify (DTI) technologies and electronic or kinetic countermeasures to intercept UAS in flight.

Despite these advancements, there are inherent limitations in current C-UAS solutions that this Themed Competition aims to address, ensuring we maintain a strategic advantage over adversaries.

The extensive UAS usage has exposed three primary challenges with C-UAS deployments:

1) Inconsistent positioning of C-UAS technologies, leading to gaps in preventing UAS attacks.

2) Maintaining a skilled workforce positioned correctly to counter UAS threats is challenging.

3) Inadequate mitigation of evolving UAS capabilities and tactics to evade existing technologies.

These challenges emphasize the importance of revisiting foundational principles and enhancing C-UAS technology with robust physical last-resort security measures to counteract kinetic UAS attacks effectively.

Informations clés

This competition invites proposals to bolster physical security measures to counteract kinetic UAS attacks. While the existingvC-UASvtechnology primarily targets UAS during flight, we seek innovative solutions to protect stationary or mobile assets from hostile UAS threats. If you have groundbreaking C-UAS technologies, we encourage you to submit your proposal to contribute to national security efforts.

The total possible funding available for all successful bids to this competition is £750,000 (excluding VAT). Individual proposals must be for an amount less than £150,000. Several proposals may be funded.

The deadline to submit a proposal is midday on 13 June 2024 (BST).

The full competition document and terms and conditions can be found at the following link- Protecting Physical Assets from Uncrewed Aerial Systems Attack.

An informational webinaire will be held on 2 May 2024 from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm (BST). This webinar offers the opportunity to learn more about this DASA competition and ask questions of the team.

A series of 10-minute one-to-one teleconference sessions will be available on 9 May 2024 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm (BST) to ask specific questions. Interested participants can register on the Eventbrite page. Booking is on a first-come, first-served basis.

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