Which brings us to Robin Radar Techniques, a Dutch firm that originally used radar to detect birds. (Certainly, the identify “Robin” is an acronym derived from “Radar OBservation of Chook INtensity.”) This radar know-how, good at detecting small flying objects and differentiating them from fauna, has confirmed helpful in Ukraine’s drone warfare. Final yr, the Dutch Ministry of Defence purchased 51 cellular Robin Radar IRIS models that may very well be mounted on autos and utilized by drone protection groups.
Now, utilizing information collected from the real-world, battlefield-tested deployment, Robin has greater than doubled the vary at which these IRIS radars can detect drones. The unique cellular radars despatched to Ukraine had a “long-range mode” of three miles (5 km), however the brand new software program patch extends this out to 7.5 miles (12 km). The additional distance is vital when making an attempt to hit a drone shifting above you at over 110 mph (180 km/hour).
The elevated vary requires nothing greater than a software program replace, showcasing the rising navy use of low-cost, agile, software-upgradeable programs along with the bigger, costlier {hardware} nonetheless coming from conventional protection contractors.
Kristian Brost, the final supervisor of Robin Radar’s US department, careworn the pace that code-only upgrades to navy gear can present. “By delivering this leap ahead fully via software program,” he mentioned, “we’re displaying how the decisive edge in counter-drone defence is not simply constructed—it’s coded.”
Ukraine has made no secret of the subsequent software-defined leap that it hopes will assist it win the drone warfare: AI-powered drones not topic to digital warfare disruptions. Some Ukrainian models have already used early variations of those weapons, which might loiter for hours and make autonomous assault choices after being skilled on sufficient imagery of troops and autos.
