OpenWorks has been contracted by Australia’s Department of Defence to provide capability to counter small uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) as part of the fast-tracked Land 156 programme.
The smallest and lightest intelligent optics system from OpenWorks, Vision Guard, has been selected for evaluation within the Australian Defence Force’s $1.3 billion programme to act as an early warning system, or ‘trip wire’, for dismounted close combatants.
Vision Guard provides rapidly deployable panoramic staring capability for forward observation and covert surveillance, including in low light. It integrates OpenWorks’ proprietary artificial intelligence and data fusion software to detect, track and identify class 1 UAS at long range. Systems can be configured with combinations of active and/or passive wide area sensors, including radar and acoustic panels, to suit mission requirements.
Designed for minimal Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) requirements, Vision Guard and ancillary sensors can be carried in a standard military backpack and deployed in under 2 minutes to provide distributed C-UAS capability, minimising reliance on strategic assets and enabling freedom of manoeuvre.
Vision Guard has been proven among a number of European and U.S. customers, as well as part of Project Vanaheim, a joint UK and U.S. experimentation programme to explore the future of interoperable C-UAS in the face of what is rapidly evolving into one of today’s most prolific battlefield threats.
“We don’t take lightly the trust placed in us by the Australian Defence Force to support enhanced situational awareness and operational intelligence as part of their Land 156 programme. Vision Guard is a small but mighty system that makes a real difference to dispersed troops and we’re proud to support the Commonwealth in their fast-tracked efforts to enhance C-UAS capability.” James Cross, Chief Commercial Officer at OpenWorks
