SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed program will study the use of a rocket motor with explosive or fragmenting warhead to protect a UAV from threats. Threats will be identified and grouped, then examined for vulnerability, function and attack orientation. Unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs will be researched for maneuverability, aft profile and vulnerability, and appropriate stand-off distance to the threats to minimize residual effects. The best overall system concepts, including warhead and interceptor, that cause enough damage to the threat when launched from the researched UAVs, will be described. The system, its performance goals and a plan for development will be summarized.

Benefits:
The Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts have demonstrated the need for UAV self-defense. The proposed concept has the anticipated benefit of being an affordable, minimal maintenance system capable of defending against shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles and rockets. Some of the commercial sectors that could be expected to benefit from the proposed effort include commercial and private aircraft, both in the US and abroad. Several groups are concerned about the safety of commercial aircraft: general public, NTSB, TSA, airlines themselves, aircraft manufacturers and the department of homeland security.

Keywords:
Expendable, small, self guided, self protection, missile, UAV, projectile, countermeasure

There are currently no active protection systems on any UAV. These unmanned aerial vehicles are relatively slow with minimal maneuverability compared to an incoming ground-launched threat. The approach that has been evaluated for vehicle self-protection is the concept of a destructive expendable (DEX). The proposed program will study the use of a rocket motor with explosive or fragmenting warhead to protect a UAV from threats. Talley Defense Systems will evaluate, through detailed analysis and test, the inexpensive DEX concept that was outlined in Phase I. The first objective is to take the concept definition and requirements and solidify a design. The second objective of this Phase II effort is to evaluate the function and performance of each sub-system component of the concept design with respect to intention and basic requirements. The major effort of this Phase II SBIR is the demonstration of the DEX countermeasure. The test series will start at the component level and conclude with a series to verify the DEX flight profile and intercept of a live threat at a 50-meter standoff.

Keywords:
Expendable, Small, Self Guided, Self Protection, M