Hi Diogenese,
This article talks about Parsons and Rafael jointly bidding for a contract to supply a drone defence system. The contract will be awarded to a vendor by next year.
What caught my eye is that the article (and the solicitation) mentions the system will need to incorporate advance technologies such as networked sensor nodes. No other companies publicly announced bids for the contract and the US Marine Corp are not announcing the number of interested vendors due to the competitive nature of the contract. So, I am assuming that "the competitive nature of the contract" should be interpreted as meaning it will be worth a lot of $$$$.
As you say, now that Parsons have acquired BlackSignal/Blue Ridge Envisioneering they will now have access to digital SNN capability. I can only imagine that this will be a major advantage in helping them secure the contract.
Rafael, Parsons Jointly Bid to Protect USMC Installations From Drones
Joe SaballaApril 30, 2024
1 minute read
Rafael’s American subsidiary is joining forces with Parsons Corporation to bid on a US Marine Corps contract to protect installations from small drones.
Officials from the two companies told Breaking Defense that their proposed solution will feature the Drone Dome System, which is also fitted into Israel’s famous Iron Dome defense system.
It has an active detection radar, an electro-optical and infrared camera, an electronic warfare jammer, and a passive radio frequency detection system for effective neutralization of approaching hostile drones.
“Rafael has fielded the Drone Dome system since 2016,” company chief technology officer Eric Brown said. “It’s tested, it’s proven… It gets rid of a lot of clutter [and] it makes it very easy for the user to be able to have a clear situational air picture.”
For its part, Parsons will be responsible for program management and systems integration of its proposed solution.
It will also provide sustainment services, making sure that counter-drone systems are in a constant state of readiness.
About the Program
In February, the US Marine Corps issued a solicitation to industry partners for a reliable system that can defend covered assets and personnel.
More specifically, the solution should effectively detect and neutralize group one and two drones, or drones weighing up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds).
According to the service, the system needs to incorporate advanced technologies, such as networked sensor nodes.
Submission of proposals ended last week and the US Marine Corps is expected to award a contract to one vendor by next year.
Apart from Rafael and Parsons, no other companies publicly announced bids for the competition. The service is also not disclosing the number of interested vendors due to the competitive nature of the contract.
Hi Bravo,
Iron Dome, of course, has its own sensors, but they may not be classed as "advanced technologies", so there may be scope for AI boosted sensors which can both detect and classify targets on the fly in real time. In this business, speed is of the essence, so if the fire control computer does not have to spend time running software to process a load of sensor data, so much the better,
.
who is this?
