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 USAF plans to continue flying with Angry Kitten pods over the next 12 to 24 months to develop the best tactics, techniques and procedures to leverage the EW capability. (Photo: General Atomics)
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has released details of the first flight of an Angry Kitten ALQ-167 EW countermeasure pod on a GA-ASI MQ-9A Reaper UAV.
The USAF conducted the flight on 27 April using a pod supplied by the Georgia Tech Research Institute. GA-ASI integrated the pod in less than nine months at no cost to the air force by using a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement.
The USAF plans to continue flying with Angry Kitten pods over the next 12 to 24 months to develop the best tactics, techniques and procedures to leverage EW capability on other DoD aircraft such as F-16s.
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Adding the pod to a Reaper UAV would be a substantial improvement in capability for a platform largely used for reconnaissance and attack. The platform is in use or planned for use with eight countries and while an older design, first entering service in 2006, future use is set to continue out as far as 2045.
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.