Drone defence on trial

A Canadian Army Today article reviews recent efforts in counter-drone (CUAS) defense trials and technology testing, highlighting how militaries and defence innovators are accelerating work to detect and defeat small, hostile drones. The piece begins with a September 18, 2024, drone strike in Ukraine that demonstrated how lethal casual drones can be in modern conflict. It then discusses the IDEaS (Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security) CUAS sandbox trials held at the Defence Research and Development Canada’s Suffield Research Centre — a large, instrumented range where Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), scientists, and partners evaluate cutting-edge systems to counter emerging aerial threats.

The article explains that these trials bring together participants from government, military, and industry to test technologies such as AI-assisted tracking systems, compact lasers, and acoustic counter-drone prototypes against realistic targets. Directed energy systems like lasers showed promise in disabling drones efficiently at range, and multiple systems operating cooperatively demonstrated how layered defence concepts might be deployed in future scenarios. The story notes that the IDEaS program awarded funding prizes to notable innovators — including Prandtl Dynamics — for promising CUAS approaches, and that the knowledge gained in this sandbox helps shape future CAF capability needs and procurement plans.