Northrop Grumman system to be interim anti-drone solution

July 8 (UPI) -- The anti-drone defense system of Northrop Grumman Corp. was selected by the Defense Department for short-term use, the company announced on Wednesday.

The Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control, or FAAD C2, system, is the platform of choice until a permanent solution is developed, Grumman said in a press release.

The system "collects, processes, and disseminates real-time target tracking and cuing information to all short-range air defense weapons and provides command and control (C2) for the Counter-Rocket,Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) System-of-Systems (SoS)," a U.S. Army mission statement says.

The Northrop Grumman anti-drone system offers situational awareness and automated tracking information by integrating multiple systems. It can notify operators of incoming drones, rockets, artillery and mortars.

The system employs radar to detect, locate, track, identify and neutralize incoming drones, which tend to be small, discreet and difficult for human detection. A largely autonomous and rapid "kill-chain response" is required, experts say.

The decision to use the system, until a newer one is in place, came from the Defense Department's Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aerial Systems Office, which will evaluate upcoming Counter-Small Unmanned Aerial Systems, or C-sUAS, as they are developed.

"Our FAAD C2 has been saving lives at Forward Operating Bases and locations around the world since 2005," said Kenn Todorov of Northrop Grumman in a statement on Wednesday. "FAAD C2 continuously evolves to defend against new threats like small unmanned aerial systems and will continue to be the gold standard for protection of our troops whether stationed at bases or on the move."