Navy Finish-Customers Consider Over 35 Drone Platforms at Twentynine Palms
(all photos credit score Protection Innovation Unit)
On November 8, the Protection Innovation Unit (DIU) held the primary annual Blue UAS Refresh occasion on the Marine Corps Air Floor Fight Heart in Twentynine Palms, California. The three-day occasion introduced collectively greater than 40 navy drone end-users from throughout the Division of Protection (DoD). Contributors evaluated over 35 uncrewed aerial techniques (UAS) and capabilities designed to assist the DoD shortly scale and deploy business drone applied sciences.
The Refresh is a part of the DIU’s effort to make sure that the Blue UAS listing is dynamic and invaluable – evaluating platforms to make sure that these on the listing have continued to evolve and keep leading edge performance in a quickly altering atmosphere.
Actual-World Testing and Suggestions
The problem featured over 150 day and evening flights, with every platform finishing a mean of six flights. Contributors examined a wide range of platforms, together with First Individual View drones and UAS categorized as Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3, primarily based on their weight and operational altitude. Elements corresponding to sensors, radios, and gimbals have been additionally assessed.
Eventualities have been designed to copy real-world challenges confronted by navy operators. As well as, evaluators noticed how UAS carried out beneath Digital Warfare circumstances, together with responses to jamming that disrupted command and management hyperlinks.
Contributors supplied invaluable suggestions on key efficiency indicators corresponding to modularity, ease of use, mission planning, and suitability for addressing particular functionality gaps. Industrial companions had a novel alternative to obtain direct, unfiltered enter from operational end-users.
Streamlining UAS Procurement for the DoD
Right now, the DoD procures UAS by three foremost pathways:
- Packages of Report, which regularly result in techniques that lag behind the technological frontier.
- Exception to Coverage Procedures, which require in depth time and paperwork.
- The Blue UAS Program, an initiative by DIU to quickly vet and confirm business UAS for DoD use.
The Blue UAS Listing affords a policy-approved roster of drones that meet the various wants of DoD customers. Drones on the listing have a World Authority to Function (ATO), eliminating extra paperwork for deployment worldwide. This program aligns with mandates within the 2020 and 2023 Nationwide Protection Authorization Acts (NDAA) and the 2024 American Safety Drone Act.
An up to date Blue UAS listing can be introduced on a rolling foundation beginning December 2024. Firms not renewed for the Blue UAS listing could transition to the Inexperienced UAS Listing, a certification program launched by the Affiliation for Uncrewed Car Methods Worldwide (AUVSI) in 2023.
Strengthening the UAS Industrial Base
Whereas the DIU’s Blue sUAS listing has made it simpler for some platforms to be bought by authorities companies, some NDAA-compliant US producers say that the listing disadvantages these firms whose platforms are usually not appropriate for protection however could also be utilized by different authorities companies. That’s as a result of the Blue sUAS listing has been adopted by different authorities departments, together with the GSA, and even some states to point safe platforms.
The Inexperienced UAS Certification builds on DIU’s efforts by serving the business and non-defense drone neighborhood in an effort to fill that hole. Inexperienced UAS certification ensures cybersecurity and NDAA provide chain compliance. Licensed drones with a keen DoD sponsor can transition from the Inexperienced UAS listing to the Blue UAS listing, additional integrating them into protection operations.
DIU’s collaboration with AUVSI underscores its dedication to bolstering the UAS industrial base whereas addressing the distinctive challenges of navy drone procurement and deployment.
For extra data on DIU’s Blue UAS program, go to DIU.mil. Study AUVSI’s Inexperienced UAS Certification at AUVSI.org.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, knowledgeable drone providers market, and a fascinated observer of the rising drone business and the regulatory atmosphere for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles targeted on the business drone area and is a world speaker and acknowledged determine within the business. Miriam has a level from the College of Chicago and over 20 years of expertise in excessive tech gross sales and advertising for brand new applied sciences.
For drone business consulting or writing, E mail Miriam.
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