The consortium led by ONERA has been selected by the ANR for the fight against drones

The project known as ANGELAS, which stands for ANalyse Globale et Evaluation des technologies et méthodes pour la Lutte Anti-uaS (French for Global Analysis and Evaluation of Technologies and Methods for Combatting UAS*), coordinated by ONERA with six industrial and academic partners, has been selected by the French

National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR) for the programme “Protection of Sensitive Areas from Aerial Drones”.

This experimental development project, which will last 18 months, falls within the framework of civilian applications for combatting non-cooperating UAVs. It consists in assessing the performance of various sensor technologies (radar, optronics, acoustics,etc.), in maturing some more recent technologies and in combining these detection, identification and neutralisation systems to respond specifically to various scenarios: overflight of sensitive facilities under all conditions, overflight in urban settings or when surveilling events (gatherings, sports events,VIP visits, etc.).

The ANGELAS project faces many major challenges:

– Achieving a greater expertise in the handling of drone electromagnetic, optronic and acoustic signatures;

– Improving these technologies: by adapting existing means to the constraints of this new type of threat, or proposing highly promising new technologies, such as optronics (2D/3D laser imaging, etc.), electromagnetism (passive and active radar) and acoustics;

– Studying the complementarity of the various systems and their related treatments to propose a relevant operational solution;

– Enhancing the range of avoidance and neutralisation solutions (jamming, tracking, etc.)

– Confronting the research with the experiments on site throughout the project.

The ANGELAS project is supported by a multidisciplinary public-private team, balanced between industrial partners (SMEs and large groups) and laboratories:

ONERA is coordinating the project and is contributing its expertise on “drone systems”, which includes its expertise in the field of sensors (optronic, electromagnetic and acoustic), detection pursuit approaches, classification-identification and multi-sensor data fusion. It also makes its testing website available to operate and test the drones in a controlled environment.

The consortium also brings together:

– Thales, Telecom SudParis, the CEA Leti and Exavision, which contribute sensing, geolocation and neutralisation resources to the project;

– EDF, which contributes its knowledge of the risks and needs, as well as a first feedback on the solutions proposed. As both a partner and end user, EDF will also coordinate the operational demonstrations at the end of the project, by mobilising its representative infrastructures;

– The Paris Institute of Criminology, which ensures the compliance of the new system with the applicable agreements, laws and regulations;

– A committee of end users, including the Air Force, the Navy, the Directorate General of the National Gendarmerie and the Paris Police Headquarters.

* UAS = Unmanned Aerial System