Citation: Castrillo, V.U.; Manco, A.;
Pascarella, D.; Gigante, G. A Review
of Counter-UAS Technologies for
Cooperative Defensive Teams of
Drones. Drones 2022, 6, 65. https://
doi.org/10.3390/drones6030065
Academic Editors: Andrzej
Łukaszewicz, Wojciech Giernacki,
Zbigniew Kulesza, Jaroslaw Pytka
and Andriy Holovatyy
Received: 24 January 2022
Accepted: 24 February 2022
Published: 1 March 2022
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Review
A Review of Counter-UAS Technologies for Cooperative
Defensive Teams of Drones
Vittorio Ugo Castrillo * , Angelo Manco , Domenico Pascarella and Gabriella Gigante
CIRA—Italian Aerospace Research Centre, Via Maiorise, 81043 Capua, Italy; a.manco@cira.it (A.M.);
d.pascarella@cira.it (D.P.); g.gigante@cira.it (G.G.)
* Correspondence: v.castrillo@cira.it
Abstract:
In recent years, the drone market has had a significant expansion, with applications
in various fields (surveillance, rescue operations, intelligent logistics, environmental monitoring,
precision agriculture, inspection and measuring in the construction industry). Given their increasing
use, the issues related to safety, security and privacy must be taken into consideration. Accordingly,
the development of new concepts for countermeasures systems, able to identify and neutralize a
single (or multiples) malicious drone(s) (i.e., classified as a threat), has become of primary importance.
For this purpose, the paper evaluates the concept of a multiplatform counter-UAS system (CUS),
based mainly on a team of mini drones acting as a cooperative defensive system. In order to provide
the basis for implementing such a system, we present a review of the available technologies for
sensing, mitigation and command and control systems that generally comprise a CUS, focusing on
their applicability and suitability in the case of mini drones.
Keywords:
counter-UAS systems; sensing; neutralization; command and control; drones;
cooperative
systems
1. Introduction
In recent years, the drone market has had a significant expansion, especially in the
consumer sector. Drones destined for this market are easily accessible thanks to their
relatively low cost. In addition, the characteristics of weight, size, and the ability to carry a
payload, such as a camera, allow them to be used in various fields, from the recreational to
the professional sector. In addition, from a research point of view, the use of these flying
platforms helps the development of technologies whose applications have a positive impact
on the community, such as search and rescue operations, intelligent logistics, environmental
monitoring or precision agriculture.
Given the increasing use of these technologies, the issues related to safety, security and
privacy must be taken into consideration. Their use could cause damage to the community
due to failures and improper or criminal use. A significant increase has been observed
in the number of accidents involving drones or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) [
1
]. For
example, improper use in the vicinity of an airport can represent a serious threat to public
safety and a source of discomfort, as evidenced by the hundreds of flights canceled at
London Gatwick airport in a few months of 2018 [2].
For this reason, the development of technologies for the detection, identification and
mitigation of malicious drones has become of primary importance. A countermeasure
system, also called a counter-UAS (C-UAS) or counter-UAS system (CUS), can identify and
neutralize an intruder drone classified as a threat.
From an architectural point of view, an anti-drone system generally consists of the
following fundamental sub-systems:
• Sensing system;
• Mitigation system;
• Command and control (C2) system.
Drones 2022, 6, 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6030065 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/drones
