The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program awarded $750,000 to Texas-based small business Cobalt Solutions Inc. to develop a detection and tracking sensor system that can identify nefarious small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in an urban environment.
“As advancements in drone technology provide unlimited opportunities for everyday recreational and commercial use, this also presents a potential attraction for bad actors,” said Kathryn Coulter Mitchell, DHS Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology. “With drones in urban environments becoming increasingly prevalent, it is vital to develop advanced UAV solutions that can efficiently monitor and differentiate between different types of activities to protect our public safety against potential threats.”
The DHS SBIR Program, administered by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), selected Cobalt Solutions Inc. for a Phase II award after they successfully demonstrated the feasibility of their 5G Passive Radar UAS Tracking and Targeting (5G-PRT) sensor system in Phase I. The proposed Phase II development of their Urban Canyon Detection Tracking and Identification of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles solution could provide an affordable, passive, and easily deployable system that leverages already available commercial 5G signals to detect and track small UAS in urban canyon environments.