KWESST (TSX-V:KWE, OTCQB:KWEMF) Micro Systems Inc. has announced the development of a new system to counter the rapidly emerging threat of so-called "Loitering Munitions."
Unlike conventional drone threats programmed or guided to fly straight to a target area for surveillance or to attack with improvised explosives, a Loitering Munition (LM) is an autonomous, military-grade "suicide" or "kamikaze" drone with a built-in warhead that can hover in an area for extended periods to search for targets, then attack selectively once the desired target is located.
"The threat of Loitering Munitions has been described as nothing less than a revolution in land warfare," said Jeff MacLeod, CEO of KWESST (TSX-V:KWE, OTCQB:KWEMF), in a statement.
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The recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabak, the company noted, is a widely cited contemporary example of how Loitering Munitions can play a decisive role in outcomes, leaving ground forces exposed and vulnerable. More than a dozen countries currently have Loitering Munitions, and many more are in the process of adopting them as an economic replacement for missile systems, with surgical precision and highly destructive effects.
"Loitering Munitions constitute a new niche threat where KWESST is positioned to exploit its specialist counter-threat knowledge and technology," MacLeod said.
KWESST said it is already engaged with the lead military agencies in the US and other NATO countries urgently seeking solutions to counter the threat of Loitering Munitions.
Details of KWESST's CLM solution are sensitive for security and competitive reasons. In concept, the company said it receives a signal from any third-party drone detection system to locate the Loitering Munition, then launches an unmanned platform with a proprietary payload into its pathway to neutralize and prevent it from completing its mission. The nature of the neutralization method allows the system to also be safely used against domestic drone threats at sensitive facilities and public events without the risk of collateral damage.
KWESST said it has partnered with a leading US drone engineering company to carry its neutralizing payload. Together, the two companies have successfully completed the feasibility phase and have begun work to produce functioning demonstration units by early 2022, with plans for trials with US military agencies in the second calendar quarter of 2022.
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