Kongsberg Geospatial has unveiled a cutting-edge multi-domain control system designed to enhance the coordination of drones and robotic systems within combat environments.
Over the last four years, the company has been refining an airspace awareness platform for operating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS), known as IRIS UxS. Although primarily aimed at civilian applications, the IRIS system draws on Kongsberg Geospatial’s extensive background in developing both civilian and military air traffic control solutions, including the US Navy’s air traffic control framework and embedded training systems utilized on aircraft carriers, and also military command and control infrastructures like the US Navy AEGIS system.
The initial purpose of the IRIS system was to assist commercial drone operators in safely navigating beyond visual line-of-sight. it amalgamates real-time data from various sensors and sources to generate a highly precise representation of the airspace surrounding a drone. Users benefit from an integrated interface featuring a 3D map that displays the drone’s location alongside terrain, navigational hazards, and other aircraft and drones in the area.
Since its inception, IRIS has evolved into a thorough multi-platform control system that integrates with various autopilot technologies, enabling a single operator to manage multiple drones from one control station.
Recently, Kongsberg Geospatial has introduced a military-oriented variant of the IRIS system, influenced by its involvement in the NATO STANAG 4817 standard for multi-domain control stations. This advanced system aggregates and synthesizes data from a diverse array of sensors, empowering operators to manage multiple autonomous vehicles across a truly multi-domain operational landscape.
This control system seamlessly integrates various types of geospatial data and sensor inputs to produce a unified operational picture that encompasses airspace, 3D terrain, bathymetric visualization (underwater terrain mapping), and elements derived from S-57 nautical charts. Utilizing a real-time DDS bus architecture and sensor fusion technology, operators can concurrently monitor and control UAVs, USVs (unmanned surface vehicles), and UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles).
“Multi-domain command and control systems pose a range of unique technical challenges,” stated Paige Cutland, the IRIS program director at Kongsberg Geospatial. “With the development of IRIS UxS, we have tackled many of these challenges in the airspace. We then focused on coordinating real-time tracking of ground assets. Now, we have incorporated the ability to operate simultaneously in maritime environments, enabling a single operator to manage drones in the air, on the water, and underwater concurrently.”
The company envisions that their advancements in coordinating unmanned platforms with larger manned vehicles will pave the way for innovative methods of visualizing multi-domain mission spaces for various command and control applications.
“We have successfully demonstrated our capability to coordinate manned and unmanned aerial and ground assets in civilian emergency scenarios,” remarked Ranald McGillis, president of Kongsberg Geospatial. “Now, we have implemented the STANAG standard in a manner that facilitates the integration of unmanned systems within military operations.”
