Integrating counter-UAV capability in it’s Very Short Range Air Defense (VSORAD) ‘Red Sky’ system IMI Israel now supports counter-UAV capability as part of the air defense mission. The new system called ‘Drone Defender’ had gone through extensive testing in January; tests included operations in day, night and adverse weather conditions. IMI Systems has received initial orders for the new capability and is expecting to deliver the first Red Sky Drone Defender systems in 2017. Last month the system was demonstrated to representatives of 14 countries, performing live operation against flying drones, that included detection, identification, automatic tracking and neutralization of drones.
Red Sky is a short-range air defense system that utilizes the customers’ existing shoulder-launched missiles and is designed to intercept aerial targets in an automated manner, using autonomic capabilities of scanning, tracking and lethal engagement by missiles. The lightweight, portable system provides an efficient defense solution against a variety of aerial threats. The Drone-Defender (C-UAV) capabilities currently being added into the system enable such system to better cope with the growing threat of drones that has not been addressed in previous air-defense systems.
The system provides a comprehensive solution against drones’ threats, including detecting and identifying hostile drone activity, automatic tracking of detected drones and disruption of their activity or neutralization of drones before they can carry out their missions. The Red Sky Drone Defender includes a volumetric search radar and thermal sensors for target acquisition at ranges up to six kilometers. Powerful directional radio-frequency (RF) datalink and GPS jammer provides a ‘soft kill’ neutralization capability at distances of 2-3 kilometers. For hard-kill of targets at shorter range the system will be able to use high-power fiber laser.
The system can be integrated into the defense array of sensitive facilities, easily relocate to protect point targets in urban areas or be installed on vehicles to cover maneuver forces against aircraft and drones.
