GPS jammed? No issue. New software may change drone warfare forever

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE DEVELOPMENTS IN DRONE WARFARE KEEP ON COMING…THIS TIME MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES–KNOWN FOR HIGH-RES SPACE-BASED IMAGERY– IS SHOWING OFF ITS NEW SOFTWARE 

CAPABLE OF PROVIDING DRONE CREWS WITH PINPOINT, REAL-TIME LOCATION DATA EVEN WHEN G-P-S SIGNALS FROM SATELLITES ARE DISRUPTED.

MAXAR SAYS IT’S A ‘FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND” SOFTWARE RUNNING UNDER THE MONIKER “RAPTOR.”

THE DIGITAL BIRD OF PREY HELPS DRONE PILOTS FIND “ACCURATE GROUND COORDINATES” WHEN G-P-S IS BEING ACTIVELY JAMMED OR JUST ISN’T AVAILABLE.

MAXAR’S G-M OF COURSE SAYS THE NEW SOFTWARE WILL BE THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE–AS IT’S  ALREADY PROVEN VITAL IN MODERN CONFLICTS.

FOR INSTANCE, IN UKRAINE,  SATELLITE DATA IS CRITICAL FOR  DRONE CREWS RIGHT NOW TRYING TO COORDINATE STRIKES BEHIND ENEMY LINES, AND THE CAT AND MOUSE FACTOR OF WARFARE MEANS  COUNTER-DRONE SYSTEMS ARE JUST AS CRUCIAL.

SPOOFING G-P-S COORDINATES –OR MAKING ANY ENEMY’S SENSOR THINK SOMETHING IS THERE WHEN IT ISN’T–IS AN EFFECTIVE TACTIC AGAINST DRONE WARFARE AND THAT’S WHERE RAPTOR COMES IN.

RAPTOR CAN LAYOUT AN “EXTREMELY ACCURATE” THREE-DIMENSIONAL MAP COVERING NEARLY 35 SQUARE MILES AND PUT TOGETHER A COPY OF WHAT MAXAR’S GENERAL MANAGER CALLS A “DIGITAL TWIN OF THE WORLD.”

ONCE THE MAP IS CREATED, PILOTS CAN FLY THEIR DRONES WITH A SUPERIMPOSED 3-D MAP OVER THE LANDSCAPE WHILE UPDATING THE LOCATION AND EXACT COORDINATES.

THE TECH CAN HELP PILOTS PINPOINT A LOCATION WITHIN ROUGHLY THREE YARDS OF THE TARGET, WHICH IS WITHIN NATO GUIDELINES FOR ACCURACY.

THE COMPANY SAYS ITS TESTED THE TECH IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING TRIALS IN ACTIVE CONFLICT ZONES IT WASN’T WILLING TO NAME…BUT THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF THOSE AROUND THE WORLD RIGHT NOW–SO IF THIS WAS SOMETHING VEGAS COULD BET ON, THE SMART MONEY WOULD BE ON EITHER  UKRAINE OR GAZA…WITH THE INDO-PACIFIC REPRESENTING THE DARKHORSE CANDIDATE 

MAXAR SAYS ITS SOFTWARE IS AVAILABLE FOR ANYTHING RANGING FROM HOBBY DRONES TO UNCREWED AERIAL VEHICLES AND IMPORTANTLY IS CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT NIGHT.

A U-K DRONE EXPERT SAYS THIS SOFTWARE COULD BE A GAMECHANGER, ESPECIALLY IF GLOBAL SATELLITE SYSTEMS ARE TARGETED IN AN ATTACK, RENDERING G-P-S USELESS.

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