Recent Unmanned Aircraft Systems And Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Industry Technology Trends And Developments

Use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) is one of the fastest growing technology spaces in the global commercial market. This rapid growth makes it increasingly difficult to maintain a current knowledge base on recent technology advancements in the UAS and Counter-UAS industry. This paper will catalogue recent trends and developments from open sources including media and news reports, industry outlets and company product announcements. This paper will cover recent developments in the following topics: platform development, payloads and sensors, cyber resilience, autonomy, police and response use of UAS/CUAS, and state-sponsored developments. This information will help nuclear regulators and site operators understand where commercially available unmanned and counter unmanned technologies are headed, and to consider the possible impacts of these technologies on their security planning. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND2021-1821 A