The U.S. Army will use Raytheon Company’s unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to counter the threat of enemy unmanned aerial vehicles in the skies above the battlefield.
The Army will use Raytheon’s Coyote unmanned aircraft system as well as its Ku band radio frequency system (KRFS) radar toward this end. The Coyote system, when paired with an advanced electronically scanned array KRFS radar, can identify and eliminate unmanned aerial vehicles that pose a threat.
The Coyote systems are small, expendable tube-launched aircraft equipped with an advanced seeker and warhead. It can be deployed from the ground, air or a ship. They can be flown individually or together in swarms and can be used for a variety of missions including surveillance, electronic warfare, and strike.
“Enemy unmanned aircraft are among the biggest threats facing our ground troops today,” Thomas Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president, said. “Our small, expendable Coyote provides the Army with an affordable and highly effective solution for countering the growing UAS threat.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also uses the Coyote for hurricane tracking and modeling.
Currently, Raytheon is working on upgrades that will allow the Coyote’s to fly faster and farther. The U.S. Army is expected to use these Coyotes before the end of the year.
The KRFS radar enables precision fire control and swarm scenarios for UAS at tactically significant distances.
“The warfighter needs a complete mission solution to successfully counter UAS threats,” Dave Gulla, Raytheon Mission Systems and Sensors vice president, said. “Our quickly transportable system that tracks low-swarming threats with KRFS and eliminates those threats with Coyote is a game changer for the U.S. Army.”
Raytheon has delivered 40 KRFS radars to date to the Army.