That's why these proven Raytheon capabilities are crucial components of the U.S. Army's integrated counter-UAS solution. It's called LIDS: the Low, slow, small, unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System.
In October 2022, Raytheon was awarded a contract to initially equip two Army divisions with its Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor for 360-degree threat detection and Coyote for low-cost, highly effective UAS defeat. Early in 2023, an additional quantity of fixed site and mobile LIDS systems was awarded to further support the Army's Central Command operations.
In LIDS, the Army integrates Raytheon's KuRFS and Coyote with Northrop Grumman's Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control system, or FAADC2, and the electronic warfare system made by Syracuse Research Corporation for the integrated LIDS counter-UAS solution.
LIDS is deployable as either mobile or fixed, relocatable platforms. The system can provide both stationary support for an installation, asset or site, and a transportable configuration for deployment flexibility.
Layered defense
It takes "a system of systems approach ... to counter the growing threat from unmanned systems," said Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey at the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition in October 2022.
Gainey, director of the Army's Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, stressed "there's not just one system that's going to solve this problem - from small quadcopters all the way up to almost cruise missile-type attack systems that you see out there." So, to defeat this range of Group 1-3 UAS, Gainey added, "it takes a layered approach ... it's a solvable problem."
"There are other kinds of counter-UAS configurations, but LIDS is the most robust in everything from detect, track, identify and defeat," said Bill Darne, Raytheon's Requirements and Capabilities director for counter-UAS capabilities. "That's the advantage Coyote and KuRFS bring to the LIDS configuration," he added. "It's been rigorously tested, deployed in theater and getting the job done."
Raytheon Technologies awarded $237 million counter-UAS contract
Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) was awarded a $237 million U.S. Army contract for Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensors (KuRFS) and Coyote effectors to detect and defeat unmanned aircraft.
The contract includes a combination of fixed-site and mobile systems as well as a quantity of effectors, designated to support the Army's U.S Central Command operations.
As part of the U.S. Army's Low, slow, small-unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System, called LIDS, KuRFS provides advanced 360-degree threat detection, while Coyote low-cost effectors defeat drones.
"The KuRFS radar and Coyote effectors effectively detect and defeat unmanned aircraft systems, an increasingly evident and global threat," said Tom Laliberty president of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon Missiles and Defense. "LIDS is operationally deployed, providing a proven, reliable, and essential layer of defense against enemy drones."
KuRFS precision targeting radar and the scaled Ku720 mobile sensing radar deliver persistent detection, identification and tracking of airborne threats. The Coyote Block 2 defeats single drones and swarms varying in size and maneuverability, and at higher altitudes and longer ranges than similar class systems.
The U.S. Army's LIDS integrates KuRFS and the Coyote family of effectors with Northrop Grumman's Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control system, or FAADC2, and Syracuse Research Corporation's electronic warfare system. Together, these systems create a multi-mission fixed, relocatable, or mobile deployed system that provides a complete extended-range defense solution.
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