Indra unveils DRIZZLE, its new family of autonomous effectors to counter mass drone attacks
The effective, low-cost system can be integrated into counter-drone solutions to enhance the self-protection of infrastructure, land vehicles and aircraft
The interceptor drone can also be carried by a mothership drone to extend its range
DRIZZLE effectors feature advanced target tracking and selection systems, as well as a navigation system for saturated environments
Indra has unveiled at UNVEX, Spain’s leading unmanned systems trade fair, its new DRIZZLE interceptor drone, a cutting-edge system designed to neutralize drones, such as those being used in today’s conflicts, and to protect infrastructure, convoys and units deployed in the field.
This compact and lightweight unmanned system can reach speeds of more than 400 kilometers per hour thanks to its propulsion system, and has an approximate range of 80 kilometers, which can be extended to 130 kilometers with the support of a mothership drone.
Its main advantage over other systems lies in the search and detection system developed by Indra, which allows it to discriminate threats and lock onto the target with high precision.
Its ‘brain’ has enormous real-time processing capacity to analyze the information collected by electro-optical and infrared sensors that guide it during the terminal phase of the attack. The company is working to equip the system, in subsequent phases, with a radar that will further strengthen this detection capability.
DRIZZLE can be integrated into counter-drone systems, acting as a hard-kill effector, or used as an onboard self-protection solution for land vehicles or helicopters.
To extend its reach using expendable elements, Indra has also developed a mothership drone capable of carrying several smaller interceptors. This vector can fly at 30,000 feet over the first 80 kilometers before releasing the interceptors in the final phase of the mission, enabling them to cover an additional 50 kilometers and increasing the total range to around 130 kilometers to reach the target. These mothership drones can also fly in swarms to release a fine rain, or drizzle, of interceptors that saturate the adversary’s defenses and, in turn, act as attack vectors after completing their mission.
DRIZZLE has been developed under a fungible system concept, designed to be expendable, in order to provide allied armed forces with a competitive solution in terms of economies of scale and effectiveness against low-cost drone attacks.