Spike Can Be Likened to a Miniature Automated Air-defense Network for First-person-view (FPV) Drones and Similar Threats

San Francisco-based Mara has secured $7 million in funding to help bring its proprietary counter-drone system, called Spike, to market. The system is designed to counter drone swarms, which the company sees as one of the biggest problems on the modern battlefield: bringing down drones as cheaply as possible. Spike can be likened to a miniature automated air-defense network for first-person-view (FPV) drones and similar threats.

The problem at present is that an FPV drone is a relatively cheap piece of battlefield tech, typically costing around a few hundred dollars apiece. To stop one can cost many multiples of that when factoring in things like electronic warfare (EW) and interceptors like missiles. EW is also becoming less reliable as a defense with the growing trend of using fiber-optic cables or onboard autonomous navigation on the drones.

Spike is intended to provide close-in defense to take out drones when EW doesn't work, at a fraction of the cost of expensive conventional air defense systems. "Small drones changed the battlefield because they distributed the cost and capability of precise attack, said Daniel Kofman, Co-Founder and CEO of Mara, in a press release. "Most defenses still concentrate both replacement cost and line of fire.

Spike instead creates a distributed mesh of small, cheap nodes that can each aim and shoot in multiple directions at once, he added. The system comprises two main components. The first, called the spotter, is effectively the eyes and brain.

This includes cameras, microphones, and optionally radar, which watch the surrounding area in all directions. Artificial intelligence (AI) combines those sensor feeds, identifies likely drones, tracks them, and calculates where they're going. The second, called the seeker, does the actual drone killing.

Ostensibly resembling a spike (hence the name), this tiny 8.8-ounce (250-gram) interceptor is launched from a tube. It flies at around 124 mph (200 kph), steers itself toward the detected FPV and physically intercepts it. The system is not entirely automated, with human operators a critical part of the decision chain (called human on the loop).

While not directly involved in controlling the system, humans give Spike rules of engagement all the while, supervising the entire system during operation. One of Spike's key claimed advantages is its ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously using distributed launchers and interceptors. Conventional guns and directed-energy weapons generally have a single line of fire per weapon, meaning they must engage threats sequentially.

Spike can instead assign separate interceptors to multiple incoming drones at the same time. The system is also designed to be what is termed attritable, which means users can afford to sacrifice it if needed. As for the kinetic interceptor, it effectively acts like a miniature guided missile, or rather a smart bullet.

It contains its own stabilization, navigation, and tracking hardware to lock on and engage a target in flight. As a kinetic interceptor, Seeker appears designed to physically strike its target rather than rely on a conventional air-defense warhead. Against a small quadcopter, damaging a propeller, motor, arm, or other critical component could be enough to bring it down. Mara has moved rapidly from proof-of-concept to user testing for an autonomous system, said Nicole Fraenkel, Partner at Khosla Ventures.