UK government seeks ‘hard kill’ counter-UAS solution for non-military use

The United Kingdom Home Office on 9 January published a Request for Information (RfI) seeking market information and potential for a possible procurement of a ‘kinetic effector’ solution (better known as a ‘hard kill’ solution) for use in countering hostile or malicious drones.

By way of background, the RfI, in part, states: “’Kinetic effector’ is often referred to as a ‘hard kill’ or ‘hard stop’ solution, but could also allow the physical capture and retrieval of a drone […] Various methods capture, entangle or physically disable a drone, preventing it from reaching the intended target or carrying out the intended mission. Because of how they operate, kinetic effectors may be classed as ‘firearms’ and, as such, the operational use of them is limited. For this RfI, ‘kinetic effectors’ includes ammunition for existing firearms or platforms, as well as bespoke systems such as ‘smart’ weapons sighting systems”.

The Counter Drones unit of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC Counter Drones) coordinates appropriate activity with national equipment and training that is interoperable using ‘mutual aid’ for all Home Office forces. Police Scotland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Ministry of Defence Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, British Transport Police, and the National Crime Agency also accord with the principles set out in the national model that, in future, will be covered under the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (Counter Drones) (APP) for the deployment, training and use of counter drones equipment.

For access to the RfI document, email the authorities at the link below, requesting the RfI document related to kinetic effctors. A document will then be sent for completion and should be returned to the same e-mail address by 12pm local on 3 February 2024.