The current emphasis of defense companies on the development and production of all types of unmanned aerial vehicles has its counterpart in investment in systems to defend against them. Teledyne FLIR is an American company that develops technologies that improve perception and situational awareness and recently presented the C-UAS Cerberus XLa system equipped with long-range sensors and technology against drones.
Cerberus XL combines thermal/visual imaging, 3D radar and RF detection to quickly locate and track drones, and use non-kinetic effectors to neutralize threats at a distance of up to 3 km. These are devices or systems that do not employ direct destructive physical force, such as an explosive projectile, against a threat but rather means such as electronic jamming or low-power lasers to damage electronic components. But the most striking thing is its ability to detect up to 500 targets at a timemaking it an effective solution against drone swarms.
This modular system, which is deployed mounted on a trailer, can operate in extreme conditions and adapt to air, land and sea threats. Provides multi-domain situational awareness to ensure aviation safety in areas such as military installations, airports, seaports, borders and critical infrastructure, according to Teledyne FLIR. Its command and control system, Teledyne Cameleon C2, offers mapping, track display, camera control, mission recording and system status monitoring.
‘The Cerberus XL addresses the entire chain of actions against drones, including detection, tracking, identification and neutralization. The platform is designed to easily integrate with kinetic defeat solutions and features sensors equipped with Advanced AI to improve target identification accuracy,’ Teledyne FLIR Defense says in a statement.
Last year, Teledyne FLIR Defense signed a $31 million contract with Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace to provide the Cerberus XL C-UAS as part of an anti-drone solution for Ukrainian forces, where it has proven successful in operations.
According to the Dr. Jih Fen Leipresident of Teledyne FLIR Defensethe system combines decades of the company’s innovation in surveillance and radar technologies. ‘The C-UAS Cerberus XL is one of the most sophisticated, sensitive and comprehensive anti-drone systems available anywhere. Battle-tested in Ukraine, Cerberus brings together the superior radar and surveillance technologies that FLIR Defense has innovated for decades. Military and civilian customers can pass from no anti-drone capability to a complete solution with this quick-configuration platform that integrates with existing systems to deliver reliable drone neutralization capabilities,’ says Lei.
The Falcon Peak initiative to protect military installations from drones
Last month, the Cerberus XL system was presented in a static display at Fort Carson, Coloradoas part of Falcon Peakan initiative of US Department of Defense to test solutions for detecting, tracking and neutralizing small incursions of unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) on military installations.
During the two-week event, the Teledyne Cerberus XL system was tested alongside other technologies to evaluate its effectiveness against different drone threats. The experiment involved simulated sUAS raidsin which the capacity of the systems to track, identify and neutralize drones in different conditions and scenarios was evaluated.
Following the Falcon Peak exercise, US officials highlighted the importance of initiatives like this to strengthen the capabilities of the Department of Defense and Address the security challenges posed by sUAS.