Eye on the Sky

SkyTracker® Provides Protection Against Misuse of Drones

With the continuing popularity of hobby drones and the rapidly expanding commercial use of drones, the sky is getting crowded. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimates the hobbyist unmanned aircraft system (UAS) fleet will more than double to over 2.4 million by 2022. And it’s estimated that the commercial, small non-model UAS fleet will grow to more than 451,000 by 2022.

As the use of drones expands in commercial industries such as agriculture, construction, and delivery, the question of how to integrate them safely and effectively into the airspace becomes more critical. While the FAA, NASA, and industry are collaborating on ways to maintain a safe airspace and provide an efficient and orderly flow of traffic, no established infrastructure currently exists. That’s why the creation of a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system for low-altitude airspace is being explored by government agencies and industry.

But air traffic management is only one piece of the UTM puzzle. With any new technology, the potential exists for the misuse of that technology. Drones have been used to transport drugs and weapons, carried out corporate espionage, and interfered with first responders fighting fires. When a counter-drone solution is paired with UTM technologies, a drone’s intent can be determined. And that can help protect public safety.

CACI’s SkyTracker® Technology Suite is a sophisticated, award-winning, multi-phenomenology counter-UAS (c-UAS) solution that accurately and reliably detects, identifies, and tracks UAS threats in a non-attributable manner. The system can locate both the ground operator and the drone, a capability few c-UAS solutions possess, and offers a range of precision mitigation options to address potential threats. It can easily be integrated into other technologies and command and control systems to identify drones with possible nefarious intent. This enables early and effective responses in dynamic airspace environments. And unlike other technologies, SkyTracker provides passive detection that does not interfere with legitimate electronics or communications systems in the area, or with authorized drones.

Initially fielded as a fixed-site c-UAS in 2014, the SkyTracker program has evolved into a family of fixed and mobile systems able to meet a wide range of mission requirements. The CACI mindset of responsiveness and continuous product improvement is enabled and maintained through close partnership with the customer base. A proven and growing track record of operational success, both within the United States and at various overseas locations, demonstrates the viability and utility of the SkyTracker system in defending our nation’s critical assets, whether at home or abroad.

With extensive signals intelligence and radio frequency technology experience, an innovative and integrated system-of-systems approach, and SkyTracker’s precision mitigation techniques, CACI provides solutions necessary to counter evolving threats and protect high-value assets, the national airspace, and national security.

SkyTracker, named “Best-in-Class” in Washington Technology’s 2018 Industry Innovator Awards, has been tested at airports across the country and is in use at sensitive facilities across the U.S. and at operational locations overseas. The solution is highly flexible and can be customized to meet specific mission requirements, with fixed-site, vehicle/vessel, and man-packable configurations available.