Utah company's system helping Ukraine ground Putin's drones
Pleasant Grove-based Fortem Technologies, a manufacturer of systems designed to detect and intercept drones, has announced a new, smaller portable counter-unmanned aircraft system in direct response to the crisis in Ukraine. Working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Fortem has provided Ukraine with a number of the Fortem SkyDome man-portable counter-UAS devices, as well as on-site training and support.
The equipment supplied to Ukraine includes the Fortem DroneHunter, which removes drones from the sky autonomously day and night.
In its efforts against the Russian invasion, Ukraine has a need for portable counter-drone technology to detect and disarm Group I and Group II enemy surveillance drones, Fortem said. In response, Fortem took its pre-existing portable counter-UAS system and further miniaturized and simplified it for use as an expeditionary rapid deployment system. The new system can be carried by military personnel on foot to areas where needed to intercept enemy unmanned surveillance.
“Fortem creates the world’s best drone interceptor. We work every day to keep venues, campuses and entire cities protected from rogue drone incursions,” said Fortem CEO Timothy Bean. “When our predictions came true — that drones would be relied upon heavily in the next major conflict — we knew we had to act quickly to arm our allies with the technology necessary to keep themselves safe from drone surveillance and attacks.”
The Fortem SkyDome man-portable counter-UAS solution sets up very quickly without connection to power networks or generators, Fortem said. This allows expeditionary forces to operate at the border of a conflict with no dependency on an operating infrastructure or heavy and noisy support equipment. The solution is very safe for the operators, as the operator can be stationed far away and can stop transmissions across ground radios to avoid electronic detection. The detection sensors operate at a very high beam width and low power so that it’s extremely hard to detect the solution with electronic countermeasures.
“It’s evident that the new weapon of war is drones and countries must be prepared to protect their people and infrastructure from such attacks,” Fortem quoted a senior Ukrainian Ministry of Defense official as saying. “Fortem’s SkyDome system allows for detection and mitigation of attacking drones, which helps Ukraine in its fight against Putin’s forces.”
Bean said Fortem Technologies currently has systems deployed in the U.S., the Middle East, Asia and now Ukraine. Fortem recently announced a major investment in the company by Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions and that the two companies have formed a strategic business alliance, including an integration of the two companies’ systems. Toshiba will use Fortem as its counter-drone partner worldwide, the companies announced.