Verus Research, a leading provider of highly-tailored scientific and engineering solutions, has received a US Army contract for a four-year plan for simulation, training, and instrumentation in directed energy and electronic warfare (EW). With an approx. worth of USD 23.4 million, the contract was awarded by the US Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation, and will be conducted at Verus’ facility in Albuquerque, NM in collaboration with the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and General Atomics (San Diego, CA).
Hank Andrews, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Verus Research, said that the contract will further their work in developing innovative non-kinetic test and evaluation capabilities, an area of increasing prominence in the defense community. They will also establish innovative solutions for military defense against unmanned aerial vehicles that pose a threat to friendly forces or facilities.
A great deal of the research will be focused on the use of high-power-microwave (HPM) energy beams and HPM defense systems to intercept unmanned aerial systems (see the figure, which shows the Tactical High-Power Operational Responder -THOR), a counter-drone HPM directed-energy weapon developed with U.S. Air Force funding). The work will leverage the organization’s previous research on RF sensors and using those sensors to provide instantaneous to HPM system operators on the ground.
Some of the research is meant to provide the U. S. Navy with two HPM test systems. As Dr. J. Mark DelGrande, Chief Technology Officer for Verus Research, noted, the scope, breadth, and depth of these varied technology developments are a testament to the richness and quality of the diverse technical capabilities that Verus’s team has established. Verus Research explores diverse uses for electromagnetic (EM) and lasers, offering services in modelling and testing. Its clients include defense contractors and the armed forces as well as national laboratories.
