SINGAPORE — Asian countries are expanding their use of anti-drone systems for military purposes as cross-border drones become more common, and U.S. and Singaporean companies are stepping up to meet demand.
Governments in the region have been using counter-drone technology for almost a decade for security purposes, but the recent increase in unauthorized cross-border UAV traffic and the drone warfare seen daily in Ukraine and the Middle East As usual, many Asian countries are on high alert. Strengthen the development of unmanned combat capabilities.
The South Korean military installed the LightEye drone detection system, now made by Highpoint Aerotechnologies, in the demilitarized zone in 2019 to detect North Korean air incursions, and this year It has begun a five-year plan to create a capable drone force. Taiwan plans to equip its military with anti-drone technology for use against China.
“The worst kind of drone threat is that it's undetectable,” said Josh Chartier, vice president of business pursuits for Dallas-based HighPoint. “Therefore, it is essential that we have systems and processes in place to detect objects flying through space so that we can make policy-based decisions and decide what to do to mitigate our response. ”
Highpoint, which opened an office in Singapore last month, is bringing anti-drone technology to the region, Chief Revenue Officer Evan Hunt told C4ISRNET in an interview. Most of them have been “in secrecy” but have been used by the U.S. government, he said.
“There's going to be a lot of emphasis on civil aviation in this region, but as we get closer to China and those countries, the military threat increases and drones become a sovereignty issue,” Hunt said.
Although countries do not want to identify the systems they have, some governments have launched bids for anti-drone systems to strengthen military surveillance, he said.
Highpoint displayed its Sawtooth Counter unmanned aircraft system at the Singapore Air Show. It is a modular platform with long-range and short-range radars, passive RF systems, and EO/IR cameras. Hunt said saws have been used by Singaporean authorities for years to “identify, track, detect and destroy rogue drones.”
The companies say Russia has used kamikaze attacks and surveillance drones against Ukraine, and Houthi rebels have flown bomb-laden drones to attack ships bound for Israel in the Red Sea. As a result, demand for technology that can protect against them is increasing. Amid these threats, Asian governments are increasingly understanding the negative effects of drones and are moving rapidly to install radar and jamming devices, said Dirk Manley, Heightpoint's senior director of international tracking.
“Electronic warfare has fundamentally changed the battlefield,” said Chief Revenue Officer Chris Miller. Hipoint's sister company Jin Technologies and the former US acting secretary of defense said this at the Singapore Air Show last month. Miller said trillions of dollars worth of defense forces could be “annihilated by something you build in your garage.”
TRD Systems
Local company TRD Systems unveiled an anti-drone gun at the Singapore Air Show. According to CEO Sam Ong, this is one of the technologies the Canadian government has chosen to deploy to the Latvian military, and the Latvian threat involves a mix of off-the-shelf and custom-built suicide drones. He said there was.
“Whatever drones they use, they're going to use satellites, and our drone cannon can cover all these systems and block the signal,” he said. I did. “It doesn't matter if the drone is big or small. As long as we rely on satellites, we can stop it.”
The company provides anti-drone systems to all 11 countries in Southeast Asia. Thailand is a major market, but sales from Vietnam and Cambodia have surged in recent years, Ong said.
Last year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the deployment of military and anti-drone systems to the country's northern border following reports of intrusion drones allegedly flown by Vietnamese rebels.
In Thailand, the Royal Thai Army planned a series of joint training exercises with the Royal Thai Police earlier this year, focusing on counter-drone technology and intelligence gathering.
Leilani Chavez is Defense News' Asia correspondent. Her reporting expertise includes East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues, and security.
