Story ID: BCMitreCounterDroneChallenge09142016
Mitre Names Winners of Counter-Drone System Challenge
By: Bill Carey
Caption: The research and development organization invited companies to demonstrate systems that detect and stop small drones weight under five pounds.
Word Count: 244
Mitre Corporation announced the winners of its Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Challenge to demonstrate systems that detect and stop drones weighing less than five pounds that present a safety or security risk. A total of 42 applicants from eight countries responded to the challenge, which included a live flight evaluation at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., from August 10 to 18.

Eight finalists competed in one or more of three categories to demonstrate aspects of a counter-drone system: detection and determination; interdiction; and end-to-end system. Mitre awarded $80,000 to Van Cleve and Associates of Alexandria, Va., for demonstrating both the best detection/determination and end-to-end systems with DroneRanger. The system’s key components are a 360-degree scanning radar and a positioning system that integrates visual and thermal imagery and radio frequency jammers.

Demonstrating the best interdiction system was Open Works Engineering of Riding Mill, UK, which was awarded $20,000. The company’s SkyWall 100 system consists of a compressed air powered launcher and an “intelligent projectile” that deploys a net to entangle a drone.

Other finalists were: DroneTracker by DeDrone, of Kassel, Germany and San Francisco; Dronebuster by Radio Hill Technologies of Portland, Ore.; Icarus System by Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md.; DroneBlocker by TrustComs/Trifecta Global of Versailles, France, and Beltsville, Md.; Knox System by MyDefense Communications of Sundby, Denmark; and Mesmer System by Department 13 International of Columbia, Md. Mitre awarded an honorable mention to a team from Duke University.