Cyber-centric C-UAS Adoption as the First Step of a Multilayer Defense

The drone threat landscape is constantly evolving.

From the battlefield all the way to our own neighborhoods, keeping the skies safe and confronting the misuse of commercial drones is a dynamic challenge.

Just over the last year, for example, there have been countless improvised attacks on military forces, as well as smuggling attempts at prisons and across borders, cases of harassment of civilians, and outright attacks, all using commercially available drones.

Although these may seem like small-scale, tactical-level incidents, they have a strategic-level impact that ripples outward into a wide variety of sectors. The misuse and weaponization of commercially available drones are threats to airspace, the safety of civilians and ground personnel, and the continuity of daily life and ongoing operations.

All over the world, governments, militaries, law enforcement, and other organizations are working to confront the issue with counter unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) solutions.

There are a variety of solutions on offer, including those based on optical, radar, kinetic, jamming, and cyber technologies. Each has its unique set of advantages and disadvantages.

In conducting a proper “due diligence” when working to choose a solution, there is a distinct danger of “analysis paralysis” that can contribute to delays in procurement and deployment.

There’s also a real danger of being caught “off guard” while searching and waiting for the perfect solution to come.

It would be prudent to adopt a cyber-centric C-UAS solution as the first step of a multilayer defense because starting with cyber brings an approach that puts safety, control, and continuity first and foremost in safeguarding airspace from rogue drones, which is especially relevant for sensitive civilian environments that have more constraints and focus on safety.

Additionally, for the military sector (as well as other sectors), starting with cyber gives you more situational awareness and allows for more informed decision making, depending on the particular attributes of the specific drone threat.

With these objectives of safety, control, continuity, and situational awareness firmly in place, other detection and mitigation technologies can be added and integrated to give additional options for various scenarios, to capture additional data, and to allow for escalating responses to various threats from different drone dangers.

For example, some security professionals have advocated an approach in which, once the need for mitigation is established, the first attempt would be a cyber-based surgical method, to allow for safety and continuity, while jamming and even kinetic would still be available, if needed.

Important to implement a C-UAS solution ASAP

From what I’ve seen over the last few years while working in the industry, for most organizations, it’s better to “jump in” and implement a good C-UAS solution now, rather than waiting for a “perfect” solution to come later. Especially when considering the evolving nature of the drone threat, there probably will never be an absolutely perfect solution.

In the meantime, in the world of C-UAS, there are some key decision-making fundamentals to keep in mind:

1. Best solutions are those that can be implemented with a high degree of effectiveness now
2. Best solutions are those that can integrate with other solutions for a layered defense
3. Best solutions are future focused, constantly evolving, to always be “a drone threat ahead”
4. Probably most important: the best solutions are provided by the best companies. Let me explain this one a little bit more.

Choosing the right C-UAS is about choosing the right company

Whatever C-UAS solution is chosen, the capabilities need to be on a path of continual evolution. For that, customers need their C-UAS solution provider to have the capacity to deal with evolving challenges, no matter how great. So, for that reason, a big part of the C-UAS solution evaluation should focus on the company and include:

• References
• Company focus and dedication
• Successes and track record
• Consistent leadership and management
• Stability

There may even be other criteria to add to the list, depending on sector specifics.

Regardless, it’s important to keep in mind that, when you buy the product, you also buy a partnership with this solution provider.

In the meantime, it’s important to get started, to begin to actually build/deploy/implement the foundations (building blocks) of a layered/comprehensive solution now to “close the majority of gaps” existing today.

In C-UAS, just like other industries, no matter how imperfect, something, most often, is better than nothing…  and, the right cyber-C-UAS system can close operational gaps and serve as the foundation for a multi-layered C-UAS system solution over time.