Xpeller – Dangerous high flyers
The new threat from the air
HENSOLDT’s Xpeller counter-UAV system provides protection from the ever-increasing threat posed by over-the-counter drones, both in the military and the civil sector.
August 27, 2019
info@hensoldt.net
CATEGORIES:
Innovation, Integrated Solutions, Security Solutions, Counter UAV
Facing the drone threat
At present, the growth rate of the drone market is among the highest worldwide. There are currently more than 700 manufacturers.
Analysts expect that, by 2020, global sales of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars will be generated in the drone segment.
However, regardless of the numerous useful areas of application, this development will also be accompanied by a continuous increase in the threats faced by the military and the civil sector.
Small drones, which are often commercially available for just a few hundred euros, can be converted into flying explosive devices with little effort. Only last year, according to reports, a 200-dollar drone classified as a threat was shot down with a Patriot ground-to-air missile. This missile cost more than three million dollars.
With its Xpeller family of products for the detection of, and defence against, commercially available drones HENSOLDT is proving that this can be done differently and much more effectively.
Xpeller – The drone expeller
The name of Xpeller is derived from the idea of expelling an intruder. HENSOLDT has developed a powerful modular system by adding radio detectors and countermeasures to some of its existing and proven technologies for monitoring airspace using radar and cameras. This system can locate and classify even small hobby drones at a range of several kilometres.
High-resolution cameras make it possible to decide whether there is a serious threat. If so, the threat can then be countered by choosing appropriate countermeasures.
The special feature is that the individual components of the modular system come almost exclusively from the portfolio of the HENSOLDT Group. This combined expertise permits the individual components to be used optimally and ensures the maximum performance of the overall system.
A variety of applications
Xpeller is a product family concept that offers individual solutions for the most diverse deployment scenarios – whether for the protection of critical infrastructures, a major event or a patrol in a crisis area. There are three basic configurations of Xpeller: Xpeller Rapid as a mobile version, Xpeller Guard as a stationary solution and Xpeller Gear as a portable variant.
Xpeller Gear, the youngest member of the product family, combines a radio detector with a jammer. As soon as the radio detector acquires a signal, evidently controlling a UAV, the jammer will override this signal, thus severing the connection between the UAV and its operator.
At the same time, the system can also jam radio signals intended to remotely ignite improvised explosive devices. Xpeller Gear is the first portable solution to provide defence against drones and protection from remotely controlled improvised explosive devices.
Working together across all boundaries
Given the large market potential – with currently around half a million drones in Germany alone and growth rates in the double-digit percentage range – HENSOLDT once again proves its ability to think in a group-wide dimension with Xpeller.
In fact, Xpeller draws on the core competencies of individual business lines and companies in the HENSOLDT Group – such as HENSOLDT Sensors, HENSOLDT Optronics, HENSOLDT South Africa, HENSOLDT UK and EUROAVIONICs – and bundles them together into a powerful product. But HENSOLDT also thinks ahead in terms of sales.
When it comes to preparing a security concept, the company’s specialists advise potential customers in advance and carry out a comprehensive vulnerability analysis.
This allows a tailor- made system to be configured together with the customer that takes individual needs and local circumstances optimally into account.
Related products
Learn more about the Xpeller configurations:
Xpeller Guard
Static Counter UAV Solution
Xpeller Rapid
Mobile Counter UAV Solution
Xpeller Gear
Waerable Counter UAV Solution