Few know that the crow is one of the most intelligent animals that exist, located just one step below primates. They say that they detect threats before the rest of the species and that they do not shy away from fighting even imperial eagles. Indra was aware of the qualities of this bird when he named Crow, a translation of the corvid in English, one of the most advanced anti-drone systems in the world. The prodigal was put to the test last September in maneuvers organized by NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), held in the Netherlands. His performance caused a sensation in the military spheres due to the effectiveness of ‘Made in Spain’ technology‘ to neutralize and repel swarms of unmanned aircraft. Among the strengths of these developments, their ability to integrate with 27 sensors and effectors from different manufacturers from allied countries in Europe stands out.
The destructive power of these new weapons is evident these days in the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, which requires the development not only of effective interceptors, but also interoperable ones with the armor of other friendly countries. As the company has informed this newspaper, Crow has been able to adapt to the peculiarities of each mission and type of attack, to respond even to new generations of drones prepared to resist countermeasures.
The tests in which Indra participated consisted of ‘blind’ exercises, known as the Performance Challenge. In these circumstances of zero visibility, the sensors make their way with the help of a multitude of sensors and effectors. Another important advantage that Indra’s system offers is its high usability. In fact, Crow has been used by military operators who had not received prior training to use it, without this posing a problem. The simple installation of the complex (plug & play, plug and play) also facilitates the integration of technologies from different sources.
In addition to the new radio frequency sensor, in the same exercises Indra tested full compatibility with the Detection and Classification of Unmanned Aerial Systems using radio frequency project (NATO SET-204). This system also used the new NATO interoperability standard to integrate with other command and control systems.
electronic warfare
Among other defense mechanisms, Indra incorporates the latest sensor to the range of systems that Crow already has and that “include state-of-the-art radars, electro-optical systems, electronic defense systems and jammers.”that is, systems that interfere with signals”, explains the company chaired by Marc Murtra.
Crow’s radar allows you to detect long-range targets, monitor their trace and work continuously without interruption. It sends the information collected (position, altitude and speed) in real time to the command center, which verifies it by fusing it with the data collected by other sensors (Radio Frequency and Cameras.
The person responsible for this solution at Indra, Juan López Camposexplained that “Crow’s command and control system offers each army complete freedom to configure the system that best meets their needs. The solution is also prepared to work in combination with the command and control systems of other allied countries. and to integrate into the future combat cloud.”
The Crow system has already demonstrated its performance in real missions, such as the one carried out by the Spanish Air Force in Mali, where it protected Spanish troops. Other State Security Forces and Bodies have used this same system to protect airspace at large conventions and international events, such as at the NATO summit held last year in Madrid, where it shielded the presidents and heads of state from these devices. status that landed at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base in June 2022.
Company sources explain that when a possible threat enters a “Classification Zone”, the command and control system automatically orders the electro-optical system (EOS) to search, find and track the threat based on runway coordinates. The search begins by analyzing visible and thermal images for potential threats. Once the presence of the threat is confirmed, the EOS system automatically tracks and classifies it using image recognition processing against a UAS threat library powered by AI techniques.”
The command and control system also allows the identification of the threat (friend/enemy) to be automatic, through rules and automation (for example, using white list/black list to distinguish authorized aircraft from those that are not) or manually by the operator. On the occasion of this preventive application, Indra explained that its anti-drone systems “are a very complex technology”, since it requires the combined use of different systems that must work together with total precision at enormous speed.
In this sense, Indra has “the advantage that comes from being one of the main radar manufacturers in the world, a leader in electronic defense systems and command and control and a pioneering company in the development of all types of radio frequency, positioning and communications systems.
At the same time, the company added, the Spanish defense giant “is a drone manufacturer that has its own family of unmanned vehicles, which gives it in-depth knowledge of the systems it uses and how to neutralize them. Only “This way it is possible to put on the market a critical solution like this, which all the world’s airports, industrial facilities and public buildings will have to incorporate in the coming years and which the Armed Forces are already using to protect themselves in conflict zones.”
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