Shield in the Sky

By Yasmin Tadjdeh

It was an ambitious endeavor: Transform a pioneering idea into dynamic reality in a matter of months. The U.S. government, international allies and commercial and civil markets had been trying to tackle a growing problem: how to stop rogue and enemy drones.

A forward-thinking team at Northrop Grumman had an answer: AiON, a revolutionary, cost-effective and proven counter unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) command and control platform. AiON — pronounced “eye-on” and inspired by the Greek word “aeon” meaning vital force and eternity — affordably counters threats from unmanned systems, ones that continue to proliferate air spaces worldwide, threatening defense installations, critical infrastructure, major events and even human life. Acting as a shield in the sky, AiON protects against enemy and rogue drones that can carry deadly payloads, jam signals, carry out surveillance and smuggle contraband.

In just four months, the team took AiON from an idea to shooting down drones at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, during an inaugural live fire test.

“Our team was up early as the winds whipped up the desert sand and dust,” said Kevin Lee, a cyber systems engineer. “We were first in line and set the bar against the competition as we hit 100% of our targets. It was remarkable to see our designs go from the computer and simulations to a real live, explosive test.”

At Yuma, AiON successfully demonstrated the use of advanced decision aids and operator-supervised autonomous engagements. The platform showcased its state-of-the-art technology by detecting, tracking, identifying and neutralizing both simulated and real targets during four engagements with perfect precision and efficiency.