Tapping into the expertise at the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Office (DEVCOM ARO) has awarded $24 million to develop a new center focused on building systems to counter drone attacks.
Dubbed the Inducing Cyber and Physical Effects in Unmanned Aerial Systems via Cyber-Electromagnetic Convergence (ICE-CEM) center, this six-year initiative will bring together academia, industry and federal entities to develop the tools and automated procedures needed to detect, thwart and control enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
We have already seen firsthand how unmanned systems are reshaping modern warfare, and the pace of innovation in drone technology, autonomy and electronic warfare is only accelerating,” said Duke professor of electrical & computer engineering Miroslav Pajic, who will lead the center. “ICE-CEM is about getting ahead of that evolution by giving operators a continuously adapting arsenal of effects that can disrupt, deceive, disable or potentially take control of adversarial UAVs.”
A major goal of the center will be to develop a library of tools that would identify the electronic operations of enemy drones and figure out the best way to interrupt, counter or take over their control systems.
“Duke ECE develops technologies across the stack — from materials and devices to sensing, computing, communications and intelligent systems — that connect the digital and physical worlds,” said Hai “Helen” Li, chair and professor of Duke electrical and computer engineering. “ICE-CEM brings many of these strengths together around an important national security challenge. It demonstrates how sustained investment in foundational research, combined with interdisciplinary collaboration, can lead to integrated systems with real-world impact.”
