Xtend’s Griffon C-UAS engaging with a UAV using its net effector. (XTEND)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been trialling unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in counter-UAS (C-UAS) and counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) roles to improve force protection.

Working alongside Israeli company Xtend, the IDF Yahalom special operations engineering unit (SOEU) has been experimenting with the company’s Griffon C-UAS and Wolverine UAS over a four-year period to demonstrate their utility in a C-UAS and C-IED role, a platoon commander from the SOEU told Janes on 11 January.

For the C-UAS demonstration, the SOEU worked in collaboration with the US military to experiment with Griffon, a manportable quadcopter that kinetically intercepts aerial threats.

It achieves this by allowing the operator to perform “vision-assisted, semi-automated interceptions via expendable, disposable physical effectors that detach upon interception impact”, the company said.

During the C-UAS demonstrations, Griffon proved capable of intercepting both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and balloons, achieving an 85% success rate. In one instance, the quadcopter successfully intercepted 20 “average-sized balloons”, the platoon commander said.