RTX's Raytheon has announced that it has successfully integrated and combined its KuRFS radar with the Coyote effector into a single framework called LIDS. Standing for Low, slow, small, unmanned aircraft Integrated Defeat System, this system represents the pinnacle in RTX-developed unmanned aerial system (UAS) defense.
This system integrates technologies from Raytheon, such as the Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS) for 360-degree threat detection and the Coyote for actually taking out UAS threats. It also integrates other key components from Northrop Grumman and Syracuse Research Corporation. This integration significantly enhances the system's overall effectiveness in addressing a wide range of UAS threats.
The KuRFS radar alone, RTX reports, has achieved a significant technological feat by detecting even the smallest objects, such as a nine-millimeter bullet, with minimal false alarms. Similarly, the Coyote effector has demonstrated proficiency in defeating single and swarm UAS targets.
LIDS is part of a larger project for RTX that started in October 2022, when Raytheon was awarded a contract to equip two Army divisions with its Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor for 360-degree threat detection and Coyote for low-cost and highly effective UAS defeat.
In 2023, additional fixed-site and mobile LIDS systems were awarded to further support the Army's Central Command operations. As part of this, Raytheon explains, a third contract followed, aimed at equipping a third Army division.
Cutting-edge drone defense
Which is where LIDS comes in. LIDS can be deployed as either mobile or fixed and as stationary support or transportable deployment. It takes "a system of systems approach … to counter the growing threat from unmanned systems," said Major General Sean Gainey at the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition in October 2022.
Gainey, then director of the Army's Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, stressed that "there's not just one system that's going to solve this problem – from small quadcopters up to almost cruise missile-type attack systems that you see out there."
"There are other kinds of counter-UAS configurations, but LIDS is the most robust in everything from detect, track, identify, and defeat," said Bill Darne, Raytheon's Requirements and Capabilities director for counter-UAS capabilities. "That's the advantage Coyote and KuRFS bring to the LIDS configuration," he added. "It's been rigorously tested, deployed in theater, and getting the job done," he said.
Much international interest
KuRFS and Coyote systems have undergone thousands of hours of evaluations and specific tests at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona in 2023. Significantly, KuRFS was stress-tested to successfully detect and track a complex swarm of more than 30 unmanned aircraft vehicles. The Coyote element also defeated several targets individually and in groups, demonstrating faster engagement times to neutralize multiple threats.
This has also led to international interest in acquiring the LIDS system. "There's significant international interest in LIDS, with more than a dozen countries reaching out for briefings," Ghanooni said, noting that the U.S. State Department recently approved a potential sale of the counter-UAS system with KuRFS and Coyote to Qatar.
Meanwhile, the Army is expected to conduct its next record test in Arizona later this year – yet another opportunity to demonstrate LIDS' exceptional capabilities and performance. "LIDS is an operationally deployed system today," Darne said. "KuRFS and Coyote are out there – defending soldiers, bases, and assets from enemy drones," he added.
