ADAPTING EXPERIMENTATION AND TESTING


NEED FOR SPEED


JPEO A&A works to develop munitions to counter the growing threat of small unmanned aircraf t systems.


by Lt. Col. Paul Santamaria and Maj. Jake LaGue


F


rom fighting tanks in World War I to defeating improvised explosive devices in the Middle East, Soldiers on the battlefield have been forced to adapt and develop innovative countermeasures to emerging threat technologies. On today’s battlefield, one such emerging technology comes in the form of small


unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which the DOD defines as Groups 1-3, weighing less than 1,320 pounds and traveling at speeds less than 250 knots. Speed is needed to counter the small UAS threat with affordable and scalable kinetic options. Unfor- tunately, the threat has proliferated so quickly that our processes for budgeting and programming the resources for fully developed systems, though ideal, will not bring about timely solutions.


Enter the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition (JPEO A&A) at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. Te Product Manager for Medium Caliber Ammu- nition (PdM MC) out of the office of the Project Manager for Maneuver Ammunition Systems, along with their counterparts in the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Devel- opment Command Armaments Center (DEVCOM AC), have been on the cutting edge of providing low-cost counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) munitions designed for Groups 1 and 2 for the past seven years.


THE UAS THREAT Te world has borne witness to the effects of small UAS in recent years through asym- metric warfare in the Middle East and large-scale combat operations in Europe. Small UAS are widely available, cheap to buy and easy to weaponize, with an almost endless supply to employ behind enemy lines. Tey can go virtually undetected to reconnoiter enemy positions, spot for artillery fire or deliver lethal payloads on troops, equipment and key infrastructure.


https://asc.ar my.mil 49


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