A crucial yet often overlooked aspect of radio frequency (RF) counter-uncrewed aircraft system (C-UAS) technology evaluations involves testing something called “the downlink-only scenario.” C-UAS professionals must ensure the effectiveness of RF cyber takeover systems in real-world situations by employing proper testing protocols. These truly test for what is likely to occur in the field (e.g., what actually happens with hostile drone activity) instead of just what is easy to demonstrate.
Understanding the Downlink-Only Challenge
In the real world, obstructions like buildings or terrain often block a UAS’ remote control uplink signal from reaching the C-UAS system. For this reason, the ability to take over a UAS without access to the remote control is a mission-critical capability that must be thoroughly tested.
In other words, the C-UAS system must be able to mitigate the rogue drone using only the down-link info if it’s really going to work in common and comparable situations in the real world. In actual deployments, the counter-UAS system often only has access to the drone’s downlink signal, not the uplink from the remote control.
For this reason, when evaluating RF cyber takeover systems, it’s essential to simulate real-world conditions. Understanding a system’s true operational performance requires testing “in the wild,” so to speak.
That said, even testing an RF cyber-C-UAS system in real-life scenarios may not prove its true capabilities – or lack thereof – if the system has had prior access to the drone in question.
The Problem of Prior Exposure
One of the main ways to accurately assess true RF-cyber-C-UAS performance involves ensuring that the test drone has not been previously exposed to the RF cyber C-UAS system being evaluated. Systems can store previously read remote control parameters. If that happens, it may create a wrong impression that the system has the desired downlink-only capability, when it actually does not.
Any prior exposure can lead to misleading test results. The RF-Cyber C-UAS system may appear to perform well in a simulated downlink-only scenario when, in reality, it could be using previously acquired information.
Best Practices for Accurate C-UAS Evaluation
To address this challenge, and accurately evaluate RF-Cyber C-UAS systems, certain best practices can help.
Bring Your Own Drone (BYOD)
“Bring Your Own Drone (BYOD)” ranks high among best practices. C-UAS practitioners evaluating RF-cyber systems should always bring their own UAS to evaluations. Testing with a new target, so to speak, will yield valid real world results (as long as it has not been otherwise exposed to the system – see below).
No Prior Activation
Even when BYOD is practiced, the UAS, and more specifically the associated remote control, should not be turned on near the RF cyber C-UAS system in advance of testing it. Don’t activate the drone or the remote control in advance, anywhere near the system being tested. Taking this precaution will prevent the C-UAS from reading and pre-loading unique communication parameters.
Maintain Distance
To further simulate realistic operational conditions, evaluations should run tests in which the pilot and remote control are far away and obstructed from the RF cyber C-UAS system. For maximum effectiveness, keep the RF cyber C-UAS system and controller far away from each other, not only before the demonstration but throughout the entire scenario evaluation.
Simulate Obstructions
Normally, throwing up barriers to any effort is a bad idea. But when testing RF- cyber C-UAS systems, evaluations should do just that. Scenarios should mimic real-world obstacles, such as walls, buildings or terrai, to truly test the system’s downlink-only capabilities.
The Importance of Realistic Testing Now & In the Future
As drone threats continue to evolve, so too must C-UAS solutions. Future systems will need to be even more adaptable and capable of handling rapidly emerging drone trends and threats, such as first person view (FPV) drones.
That said, regardless of the particular drone type or technology, thorough and realistic testing will remain essential in ensuring the effectiveness of C-UAS solutions in protecting security forces, major events, sensitive environments and critical infrastructure. The key is to stay ahead of the curve by continually refining testing and evaluation processes. Only then can we ensure that C-UAS technologies remain effective against emerging threats.
Thorough, rigorous and realistic testing procedures remain crucial to obtain accurate assessments of C-UAS performance. Without proper testing, organizations risk deploying systems that may not perform as expected in real-world scenarios. By simulating downlink-only conditions and ensuring no prior exposure, security professionals can realistically evaluate a system’s capabilities in challenging environments and scenarios.
The downlink only dilemma represents a critical consideration in the evaluation of C-UAS technologies. By understanding this challenge and implementing rigorous testing, security professionals can make more informed decisions when selecting and deploying counter-drone systems now…and in the future.
Watch here for an explanatory video from D-Fend Solutions about the Downlink-Only C-UAS evaluation challenge.