Searching for an effective solution to bridge the C-UAS capability gap has presented the warfighter with a dilemma until AUDS© appeared on the market in 2015. Since then the capability has evolved into Hawkeye AD / M-SHORAD and now speaks for itself as a unitary system that delivers the entire C-UAS kill chain from detect to defeat. In its current configuration it is the only system that has been successfully deployed in an extreme, hostile environment and performed peerlessly. It now has a deservedly high reputation with the warfighter (US Army) who regarded and described the system as a game changer.

Evolution has been rapid. The current users were the first to see the benefits of adapting the capability and being able to deliver effect at the point of greatest need. This was done with great affect to the point that allied forces declared Mosul ‘Drone Free’ 3 months before the city fell. It is a fair probability that having lost a key asymmetric capability, Daesh’s’ freedom of action and manoeuvre was restricted and their military decline became inevitable. This particular lesson has not been lost on possible peer and near-peer adversaries