From Vulnerability to Dominance: the transformation of ground combat vehicles into counter-drone assets

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Modern warfare is undergoing a profound transformation, ground combat vehicles are evolving from vulnerable targets into proactive countermeasures against unmanned aerial systems (UAS) profoundly transforming modern warfare. These vehicles now play a pivotal role in achieving and maintaining air superiority across traditional “blue sky” airspace as well as increasingly contested “green sky” low-altitude domains, where drones previously operated with near-impunity.

Importantly, this evolution extends beyond aerial platforms. The emergence of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and unmanned submersible systems (USSs) has sparked concurrent counter-drone revolutions across land, sea and subsurface domains. The emergence of unmanned systems requires a comprehensive, integrated approach to addressing drone threats that is redefining vehicle systems and operational doctrines.

Rethinking Vehicle Defence in Response to Drone Threats

Ground combat vehicles—classified as light, medium and heavy—were primarily designed to withstand kinetic impacts, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and traditional artillery. However, the widespread adoption of drones has fundamentally altered the operational landscape, compelling military strategists and vehicle designers to overhaul vehicle defensive strategies radically.

Today's ground vehicles must do far more than rely on passive armour—they must actively detect, track, classify, identify and neutralize drone threats across diverse mission scenarios. This requirement extends beyond frontline battles to logistical operations, including convoy protection and troop movements, as drone threats increase on security perimeters. Consequently, modern vehicles emphasize versatility, modular payload systems and interchangeable sensor suites and weapon configurations to allow for continuous data collection to combat threats. Rapid adaptability ensures mission success regardless of changing threat environments.

Aaronia AG offers an example of a tightly integrated counter-UAS asset for mobile applications. The AARTOS Drone Detection System offers a robust vehicle-integrated Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) solution, delivering comprehensive mobile airspace security. Designed for integration into various vehicles, including cars, vans and trucks, the system provides real-time RF signal detection with an extensive range of up to 80 km for military UAVs and 40 km for consumer drones. Its advanced AI-driven software enables the detection of over 99% of commercial drones, including pre-programmed ones, and can track and locate drone operators even if they operate on different frequencies. The system supports full 360° dome coverage and can be customized with additional features such as EchoShield radars, visual and thermal cameras, GPS and integrated radio stations. This flexibility ensures that the AARTOS system can be tailored to meet specific operational requirements, making it an ideal choice for mobile drone defence applications

High-Fidelity Mobile Sensing: Achieving Comprehensive Domain Awareness

The integration of advanced, mobile, high-fidelity sensors grants ground vehicles unparalleled multidomain situational awareness. Platforms now routinely integrate sophisticated radar systems, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors, acoustic detection technologies and electronic warfare (EW) suites. Collectively, these systems enable rapid identification, precise classification and timely neutralization of drone threats.

Sensor fusion—the integration and real-time analysis of multiple sensor data streams—is foundational to positioning ground vehicles as mobile command-and-control nodes within a network-centric warfare framework. Enhanced situational awareness, combined with accurate threat assessment, provides ground forces with a decisive advantage over drone-reliant adversaries.

Another example of counter-UAS systems with high mobility comes from DefSecIntel which offers advanced vehicle-mounted Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) solutions tailored for mobile defense operations. The EIRSHIELD system is a mobile, all-terrain, AI-assisted Ultra Short Range Air Defence (USHORAD) platform designed to counter various aerial threats, including multirotor and fixed-wing drones. It integrates multiple sensors and effectors, enabling it to detect drones up to 8 km away using radar, verify them with RF sensors, classify them via EO/IR cameras and neutralize threats through radio and GNSS signal jamming. Additionally, EIRSHIELD can be equipped with soft-kill interceptor drones capable of AI-assisted manoeuvring or hard-kill effectors for physical neutralization of targets. Complementing this, the CAIMAN system is a rapid-deployment surveillance solution installable on 4x4 pickup trucks, operable even while in motion. It leverages AI-assisted software to instantly detect and classify both land and aerial threats, making it ideal for missions requiring swift reconnaissance and rapid decision-making.

Weapon Systems Adaptation: From Conventional Threats to Precision Drone Engagement

Traditional vehicle-mounted weapon systems are now being redesigned for precision drone engagements. Cannons, machine guns, small missiles and rockets, and novel directed energy weapons require high fidelity airspace data to effectively counter agile drone platforms.

Remote Weapon Systems (RWS, RCWS, ROWS), already extensively deployed worldwide, present an economical starting point for capability enhancements. By integrating precision radar track data directly into existing fire control systems (FCS), vehicles become highly effective drone-engagement systems. New ammunition types, such airburst proximity rounds for cannons, further enhance lethality and mission success.

This RWS adaptability allows ground combat vehicles to swiftly respond to evolving threat profiles. Modular payloads and standardized integration frameworks enable quick reconfiguration, vital for maintaining tactical versatility across diverse operational contexts—from dense urban environments to expansive rural terrains.

Accurate radar data has emerged as the defining factor between success and failure in drone engagements. Recent live-fire exercises featuring cannons and directed-energy systems against drone threats underscored radar's critical role. Of the six participating systems, five utilized Echodyne radar, renowned for its superior accuracy derived from patented Metamaterials Electronically Scanning Array (MESA®) technology. Echodyne's radar provides precise detection, tracking and targeting capabilities, enabling robust weapon lock, efficient alignment of EO/IR targeting sensors within fire control systems, and essential range, bearing, and range-rate data for calculating optimal munitions settings.

Integrating commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Echodyne radar into ground combat vehicles dramatically alters drone engagement economics and enhances the vehicle system's effectiveness, reliability and lethality.

A crucial, yet often overlooked enabler in vehicle transformation, is the Inertial Navigation System (INS). INS technology provides indispensable spatial and temporal data—precise positioning, orientation, velocity and angular rate measurements—that are essential for accurate targeting and real-time threat assessment. Accurate INS data is now foundational—the sine qua non—for effective mobile counter-UAS operations.

Precise INS capabilities enable all aspects of counter-drone effectiveness from sensor fusion and threat discrimination to the execution of precise defensive engagements. Consequently, INS integration has become a critical cornerstone in ground combat vehicle design and capability development.

Robotic Execution and High-Speed Decision Making

The dynamic nature and speed of drone threats exceed human cognitive capabilities, driving ground combat vehicles toward increased autonomy. Robotic execution—comprising automated detection, analysis and threat neutralization—necessitates advanced IT architectures providing unified spatial and temporal awareness. These systems routinely update at rates exceeding 100 Hz, allowing rapid, precise and automated responses to fast-moving threats.

Ground vehicles now function as sophisticated robotic platforms, rapidly processing vast data volumes, enabling instantaneous decision-making and enhancing battlefield survivability significantly.

Drone threats vary widely—from small, agile FPV drones in urban settings to ISR drones loitering over expansive terrain. Consequently, adaptability has become a foundational design requirement. Modern combat vehicles must swiftly interchange and integrate diverse payloads, including sensor arrays, electronic warfare equipment and advanced weapon systems, tailoring their capabilities dynamically to specific operational demands.

The shift toward enhanced counter-drone capabilities has profound implications for defence acquisition processes and military doctrine. Traditional procurement methods, historically characterized by rigidity and slow innovation cycles, must now evolve into agile, adaptive frameworks capable of rapidly integrating emerging technologies.

Military doctrine at all levels—tactical, operational and strategic—must incorporate these rapid technological advancements and prioritize continuous innovation and adaptability. Historical paradigms emphasizing static threats no longer suffice; modern doctrine must reflect the dynamic, rapidly evolving nature of contemporary warfare threats.

This transition to advanced sensing, sophisticated data fusion and autonomous weapon systems demands robust interoperability and communication frameworks. Ground combat vehicles no longer function independently; they serve as integral nodes within broader interconnected ecosystems involving aerial drones, satellites, naval vessels and ground units.

Seamless information exchange and real-time integration among diverse assets enhance overall joint-force effectiveness. Interoperability is crucial to achieving comprehensive all-domain awareness, enabling distributed command-and-control architectures and facilitating unified threat-neutralization strategies across multiple operational domains.

The evolution of ground combat vehicles from passive drone targets to proactive defenders of air superiority marks a transformative advancement in warfare capabilities. The integration of mobile, high-fidelity, multidomain sensors and sophisticated, adaptable weapon systems tailored specifically for drone threats are critical advancements shifting battlefield posture from overwhelmed defender to capable attacker. Precise INS technology, robotic autonomy, tactical adaptability and enhanced interoperability underscore a comprehensive modernization strategy. Ground combat vehicles will play essential roles not only in traditional terrestrial engagements but also as indispensable components within integrated, multidomain battle strategies.

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