Jammer resistant drone designs spark search for countermeasures
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven another stage of evolution for drones and the counter measures to defend against them.
The C-Worker 5 unmanned surface vehicle (USV) has carried out a hydrographic survey in the Bering Sea, off Alaska, ASV Global announced on 30 August.
Conducted in cooperation with TerraSond, the survey saw the C-Worker 5 operate alongside TerraSond’s Q105 survey ship on a 36 day mission. The USV ran parallel survey lines to the Q105, completing 2275 nautical miles of survey lines. Both vessels ran multi-beam sonars and simultaneously towed side scan sonars.
The C-Worker 5 was operated using ASV Global’s ASView control system from a control station on the Q105 vessel. ASView used exported survey lines from the TerraSond planning system to autonomously execute an accurate survey with minimal human intervention. The USV’s colour and thermal camera feeds and AIS collision avoidance system were monitored to ensure navigational safety, with radar overwatch provided by the Q105.
The deployment was a follow-on from a proof of concept operation carried out between TerraSond and ASV Global in August 2015 during which an ASV platform became the first USV to update US nautical charts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Thomas Chance, chairman, ASV Global, said: ‘The C-Worker 5 has proven itself as a reliable, weather resistant solution to increasing survey efficiency. The ASV covered up to 130nm per day, doubling the coverage of the Q105 survey vessel. In addition to this, the C-Worker 5 was able to survey shallow waters that the Q105 was not able to reach.’
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven another stage of evolution for drones and the counter measures to defend against them.
The new Amorphous software is a universal controller that would allow a single operator to control a swarm of “thousands” of uncrewed systems, from drones to underwater platforms.
India UAV supplier ideaForge has launched the Netra 5 and Switch V2 drones at Aero India 2025, boasting of enhanced endurance, AI-driven autonomy and improved operational capabilities.
The UAV market is experiencing unprecedented growth, with innovations in technology and battlefield applications driving demand across military sectors. From the battlefields of Ukraine to NATO exercises and beyond, drones are transforming how wars are fought and supported.
Launched at AUSA in October, the company’s multi-stream video codec is attempting to bring a new lease of life to drone technology through its AI accelerator.
Quantum-Systems has been upgrading its UAS family, with new versions of the Vector, Reliant and Twister drones set for release throughout 2025.