Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS) Implementation Storyline

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1638609· OSTI ID:1638609

Atencio, Julian James ^[1]; Scherer, Carolynn P. ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

This report is an FY21 Deliverable for NA-21.1, International Nuclear Security, WBS 21.1.1.1.4 Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS), under C.1.4, Develop Suite of Engagement Materials and Tools for Country/Regional Teams. The responsibility for protecting nuclear assets is an immense challenge for governments. Policy changes based on geopolitics, instability of government regimes, and technological advances that facilitate theft of nuclear material all contribute to the enduring task of staying current with these and other threats. One of the recent threats to come along is the use of drones or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to circumvent traditional Physical Security Systems. There are significant resources invested on physical protection systems for securing nuclear assets, but many of these systems can now be bypassed by simply flying over these measures intended to guard against ground attacks. In recent years the threat increased to hostile groups to attack or surveil due to advances and availability of UAS platforms. It is now more urgent to implement systems and procedures to counter the UAS threat. The United States (U.S.) federal government granted authority to the Department of Energy (DOE) to implement a Counter UAS to protect nuclear assets. This document provides a very practical and transparent view of the trials, tribulations and challenges we encountered while implementing the first Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS) Program in the DOE at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
• DOE Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 1638609
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--20-25040
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION