Army, Orbital ATK showcase counter-UAS capabilities
NewsJanuary 19, 2018
FORT SILL, Okla. The U.S. Army and aerospace/defense company Orbital ATK (Dulles, Virginia) recently participated in the Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment (MFIX) at the Fort Sill Army post.
The event allowed soldiers to try out Orbital ATK counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) technologies during a series of demonstrations; the users then provided feedback on the performance of the systems. Such feedback, say Orbital ATK officials, could potentially help fill capability gaps for short-range air defense.
Dan Olson, vice president and general manager for Orbital ATK’s Armament Systems Division, said of the experiment: “Exercises and demonstrations such as MFIX provide the Army and industry the ability to understand how we can work together to focus our efforts to quickly deliver next-generation technologies.”
During the tests, Orbital ATK demonstrated its system's combination of electronic and kinetic attack through its AUDS (anti-unmanned aerial vehicle defense system) which detects, tracks, identifies, and defeats drones; the kinetic element is found in the integration of the company’s XM914 30mm Bushmaster Chain Gun mounted to the Stryker combat vehicle platform. The combined weapon can work together or independently. Orbital ATK also demonstrated during the experiment how a soldier, armed with its shoulder-fired XM25 airburst weapon system, could bring down a malicious drone.
