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.
Nortek and Strategic Robotic Systems have launched a new jointly developed underwater vehicle that combines autonomous and remotely underwater vehicle (AUV and ROV) capabilities with diver navigation and propulsion technologies, the company announced on 1 February.
Called Fusion, the vehicle has been designed to combine AUV, ROV and diver functionality in a single vehicle with a suite of sensors in a tightly integrated package, including multi-beam forward-looking sonar, side-scan sonar, and a 1MHz Doppler Velocity Log (DVL).
Nortek's 1MHz DVL has a bottom track that ranges from 20cm to 50m, and its housing is available with a 4000m pressure rating.
Jesse Rodocker, president at Strategic Robotic Systems, said: 'Both the electronics and transducers are smaller and have a better form factor for the Fusion underwater vehicle. The higher frequency for increased accuracy is of huge value for aiding the Fusion's automated control and navigation system. The added dedicated altimeter provides more accurate altitude directly below the Fusion for better terrain following.'
He added: 'The Fusion is a real first. There isn't a system on the market that combines the AUV, ROV and diver functionality in the same way. Fusion is also really the only system to be built from the ground up with a specific suite of sensors in such a tightly integrated package.'
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.