Latest news with #Dragoon
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Dragoon Selects Teledyne FLIR OEM Prism Software for Long-Range Unmanned Platform Prototyping
GOLETA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2025-- Teledyne FLIR OEM, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), today announced Dragoon is using the Prism™ Supervisor and Prism SKR software for its AI-driven object detection, tracking, real-time autonomy flight control, and mission planning capabilities within its long-range unmanned platform prototypes under Project Artemis, a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) initiative. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Dragoon is using the Prism Supervisor and Prism SKR software for its artificial intelligence-driven object detection, tracking, real-time autonomy flight control, and mission planning capabilities within its long-range unmanned platform prototypes under Project Artemis, a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) initiative. Project Artemis is a program designed to evaluate and deploy long-range loitering munitions capable of operating in highly contested electromagnetic environments and in large numbers. Dragoon is one of four organizations within Project Artemis tasked to demonstrate low-cost, adaptable, long-range, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms with the potential to maximize operational flexibility. 'The integration of Dragoon's Cinder unmanned aircraft—our low-cost, long-range platform—and Teledyne FLIR's OEM Prism software unlocks new, highly autonomous mission capabilities in complex environments,' said Jason Douglas, co-founder of Dragoon Technology. 'By combining our platform and payload with Teledyne FLIR's autonomy, we offer an ideal solution for the DIU Artemis project.' Prism SKR is a best-in-class automatic target recognition (ATR) software providing a drop-in solution for the FLIR Boson ® thermal camera module that optimally addresses the seeker requirements for the Dragoon UAS platform. It operates efficiently at the edge on low-power embedded processors and is compatible with both infrared (IR) and visible camera data. Prism SKR provides real-time target position, identification, direction of motion, and aim-point localization, guiding the platform's autonomous flight system for various operations. In combination, Prism Supervisor further enhances mission readiness by providing end-to-end autonomy and mission oversight. It seamlessly integrates with Dragoon's onboard autopilot system to support real time decision-making capabilities and an intuitive mission-planning interface. The advanced autonomy in Prism Supervisor closes the loop between the on-board navigation subsystem and real-time AI-based observations to enhance UAS operational capabilities while reducing operator intervention and workload. 'Dragoon selecting Prism software for its Project Artemis work underscores our ability to deliver mission-critical capabilities for national defense,' said Jared Faraudo, vice president of product management and programs, Teledyne FLIR OEM. 'Prism SKR and Supervisor are purpose-built to enable Dragoon's unmanned systems to perform in demanding battlefield environments, ensuring reliable performance when it matters most.' To learn more about Teledyne FLIR OEM, visit: To learn more about Dragoon, visit This effort was sponsored by the U.S. Government under Other Transaction number HQ0845-25-9-0044 between Dragoon Technology and the Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. About Teledyne FLIR OEM Teledyne FLIR OEM, a Teledyne Technologies company, is a world leader in intelligent sensing solutions for defense and industrial applications, with approximately 4,000 employees worldwide. Founded in 1978, the company creates advanced technologies to help professionals make better, faster decisions that save lives and livelihoods. For more information, please visit or follow @flir. View source version on CONTACT: PR Contact: Keith Metz-Porozni KGMP Strategies [email protected] 971-506-7769 KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY HOMELAND SECURITY MILITARY PUBLIC POLICY/GOVERNMENT DRONES SOFTWARE HARDWARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DEFENSE SOURCE: Teledyne FLIR OEM Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 05/20/2025 09:31 AM/DISC: 05/20/2025 09:31 AM
Business Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Dragoon Selects Teledyne FLIR OEM Prism Software for Long-Range Unmanned Platform Prototyping
GOLETA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Teledyne FLIR OEM, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), today announced Dragoon is using the Prism™ Supervisor and Prism SKR software for its AI-driven object detection, tracking, real-time autonomy flight control, and mission planning capabilities within its long-range unmanned platform prototypes under Project Artemis, a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) initiative. "We offer an ideal solution for the DIU Artemis project." Share Project Artemis is a program designed to evaluate and deploy long-range loitering munitions capable of operating in highly contested electromagnetic environments and in large numbers. Dragoon is one of four organizations within Project Artemis tasked to demonstrate low-cost, adaptable, long-range, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms with the potential to maximize operational flexibility. "The integration of Dragoon's Cinder unmanned aircraft—our low-cost, long-range platform—and Teledyne FLIR's OEM Prism software unlocks new, highly autonomous mission capabilities in complex environments," said Jason Douglas, co-founder of Dragoon Technology. "By combining our platform and payload with Teledyne FLIR's autonomy, we offer an ideal solution for the DIU Artemis project." Prism SKR is a best-in-class automatic target recognition (ATR) software providing a drop-in solution for the FLIR Boson ® thermal camera module that optimally addresses the seeker requirements for the Dragoon UAS platform. It operates efficiently at the edge on low-power embedded processors and is compatible with both infrared (IR) and visible camera data. Prism SKR provides real-time target position, identification, direction of motion, and aim-point localization, guiding the platform's autonomous flight system for various operations. In combination, Prism Supervisor further enhances mission readiness by providing end-to-end autonomy and mission oversight. It seamlessly integrates with Dragoon's onboard autopilot system to support real time decision-making capabilities and an intuitive mission-planning interface. The advanced autonomy in Prism Supervisor closes the loop between the on-board navigation subsystem and real-time AI-based observations to enhance UAS operational capabilities while reducing operator intervention and workload. 'Dragoon selecting Prism software for its Project Artemis work underscores our ability to deliver mission-critical capabilities for national defense,' said Jared Faraudo, vice president of product management and programs, Teledyne FLIR OEM. 'Prism SKR and Supervisor are purpose-built to enable Dragoon's unmanned systems to perform in demanding battlefield environments, ensuring reliable performance when it matters most.' To learn more about Teledyne FLIR OEM, visit: To learn more about Dragoon, visit This effort was sponsored by the U.S. Government under Other Transaction number HQ0845-25-9-0044 between Dragoon Technology and the Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. About Teledyne FLIR OEM Teledyne FLIR OEM, a Teledyne Technologies company, is a world leader in intelligent sensing solutions for defense and industrial applications, with approximately 4,000 employees worldwide. Founded in 1978, the company creates advanced technologies to help professionals make better, faster decisions that save lives and livelihoods. For more information, please visit or follow @flir.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dragoon Selects Teledyne FLIR OEM Prism Software for Long-Range Unmanned Platform Prototyping
Prism SKR and Prism Supervisor provide target recognition and AI-based autonomous flight control for Dragoon GOLETA, Calif., May 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teledyne FLIR OEM, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: TDY), today announced Dragoon is using the Prism™ Supervisor and Prism SKR software for its AI-driven object detection, tracking, real-time autonomy flight control, and mission planning capabilities within its long-range unmanned platform prototypes under Project Artemis, a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) initiative. Project Artemis is a program designed to evaluate and deploy long-range loitering munitions capable of operating in highly contested electromagnetic environments and in large numbers. Dragoon is one of four organizations within Project Artemis tasked to demonstrate low-cost, adaptable, long-range, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms with the potential to maximize operational flexibility. "The integration of Dragoon's Cinder unmanned aircraft—our low-cost, long-range platform—and Teledyne FLIR's OEM Prism software unlocks new, highly autonomous mission capabilities in complex environments," said Jason Douglas, co-founder of Dragoon Technology. "By combining our platform and payload with Teledyne FLIR's autonomy, we offer an ideal solution for the DIU Artemis project." Prism SKR is a best-in-class automatic target recognition (ATR) software providing a drop-in solution for the FLIR Boson® thermal camera module that optimally addresses the seeker requirements for the Dragoon UAS platform. It operates efficiently at the edge on low-power embedded processors and is compatible with both infrared (IR) and visible camera data. Prism SKR provides real-time target position, identification, direction of motion, and aim-point localization, guiding the platform's autonomous flight system for various operations. In combination, Prism Supervisor further enhances mission readiness by providing end-to-end autonomy and mission oversight. It seamlessly integrates with Dragoon's onboard autopilot system to support real time decision-making capabilities and an intuitive mission-planning interface. The advanced autonomy in Prism Supervisor closes the loop between the on-board navigation subsystem and real-time AI-based observations to enhance UAS operational capabilities while reducing operator intervention and workload. "Dragoon selecting Prism software for its Project Artemis work underscores our ability to deliver mission-critical capabilities for national defense," said Jared Faraudo, vice president of product management and programs, Teledyne FLIR OEM. "Prism SKR and Supervisor are purpose-built to enable Dragoon's unmanned systems to perform in demanding battlefield environments, ensuring reliable performance when it matters most." To learn more about Teledyne FLIR OEM, visit: To learn more about Dragoon, visit This effort was sponsored by the U.S. Government under Other Transaction number HQ0845-25-9-0044 between Dragoon Technology and the Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. About Teledyne FLIR OEM Teledyne FLIR OEM, a Teledyne Technologies company, is a world leader in intelligent sensing solutions for defense and industrial applications, with approximately 4,000 employees worldwide. Founded in 1978, the company creates advanced technologies to help professionals make better, faster decisions that save lives and livelihoods. For more information, please visit or follow @flir. View source version on Contacts PR Contact: Keith Metz-PorozniKGMP Strategieskeith@ 971-506-7769
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Cinder Is A New American Autonomous Attack Drone
A new American long-range one-way attack drone called Cinder promises a game-changing new capability: precisely hitting distant targets, including tanks, at low cost. Drone makers Dragoon are teaming up with Teledyne FLIR OEM to offer this capability in their bid for a Pentagon project called Artemis. Unlike previous drones, Artemis seeks drones to operate in areas of intense radio-frequency jamming that knocks out GPS navigation and direct links to an operator. Also unlike previous drones, they will be bought in large numbers. 'This is a groundbreaking development,' Art Stout, director of product management, artificial intelligence solutions, Teledyne FLIR OEM told me. 'Fully autonomous operations are a viable solution for today's GPS and RF-denied environments.' In March, the DIU announced that it has awarded contracts to four companies for long-range, one-way platforms for Artemis. The project takes inspiration from Ukraine, where large numbers of Russian Lancets and their Ukrainian equivalents have been making a disproportionate impact: low-cost, low-speed precision weapons driven by propellers, very unlike the high-speed, high-cost missiles currently favored by the U.S. Army. Unlike Artemis though, these drones require human guidance. The DIU requires the ground-launched drones will be 'affordable' – whatever that means to the Pentagon – and have a range of 50-300 km, far in excess of small FPVs. They will strike deep and hit air defence sites, long-range artillery and missile launch sites, as well as enemy formations far beyond the reach of most weapons. Crucially the new drones operate without satellite navigation and when communications with the operator are disrupted, requiring a high degree of autonomy. The timescale is extremely aggressive. Companies have to complete prototyping and demonstrate success by the end of this month. This short lead time may explain why Dragoon teamed with Teledyne FLIR OEM to use their suite off-the-shelf software designed for exactly this type of mission. Two products, Prism™ Supervisor and Prism SKR, seem almost tailor made to meet the DIU requirements. Prism Supervisor is the onboard commander, providing what the makers terms 'end-to-end autonomy and mission oversight.' 'Supervisor is a software layer that sits between the auto pilot and the seeker to enable a weapon to react to what it encounters while operating autonomously within a predefined search area,' says Stout. This enables the drone to plot a route, likely using visual navigation where satellite navigation is jammed, and navigate to the specified location. This is where Prism SKR – pronounced 'Seeker'—comes into play. The SKR software is linked to the FLIR Boson camera module, from the same makers, and allows users to easily create applications. Reliable, efficient Automatic Target Recognition or ATR has long been a Holy Grail for weapon developers, allowing munitions to detect and identify targets on their own, a true 'fire and forget' capability. The makers claim that Prism SKR is the best in class. SKR automatically identifies potential targets Teledyne FLIR OEM According to the specifications, SKR comes off the shelf able to identify and distinguish hardware including Russian T-62, T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks, and other items can be added as needed. 'The AI models can be easily upgraded or switched out with improved models based on additional training or new classes based on mission requirements,' says Stout. In addition to detecting and identifying targets, SKR tracks them, then guides the drone in for a precise hit. 'The software output target location and track data to the platform's auto pilot and articulated flight control surfaces to strike targets at a specific aim point,' says Stout. This puts it far ahead of current lock-on-target drone guidance in Ukraine which simply flies directly at the target. Localization means selecting a particular aim point depending on target type. For example, when targeting a T-72 tank, simply hitting the thick frontal armor will barely leave a scratch. The smart approach is to fly around and hit the turret rear where armor is thinnest and a hit will cause instant destruction, SKR also has what the makers call 'Target state estimation' which seems to mean using the thermal imager to determine whether the engine is on or not. This allows it to distinguish live targets from burned-out hulks and inflatable decoys. Dragoon and Teledyne FLIR OEM are up against some familiar names for Artemis. The SowtchBlade 600 from AeroVironment AeroVironment Inc AeroVironment might be considered the incumbents, long established suppliers of small drones to the U.S. army and makers of the Switchblade series of loitering munitions supplied to Ukraine. The current range are operator controlled, but AeroVironment have long been touting autonomous capability for their drones. Perhaps the biggest question mark there is whether the company, used to operating in a world where no expense is spared (their small Switchblade 300 comes in at over $50,000 a shot), can change gears to a new world of affordable drones. The there is Auterion, a startup already supplying Ukraine with AI hardware and software brining target-seeking capability and more to attack drones, and which has teamed up with a Ukrainian drone maker. Finally, there is Swan Tech, another U.S. defense software company specializing in 'scalable autonomous products' who have also paired with Ukrainian drone makers. If any of these can meet the DIU requirements, they will potentially open up a new type of autonomous warfare carried out with mass attacks by long-range drones. 'Autonomous loitering munitions and attritables like Artemis are a new class of weapon that builds on the prior platforms like SwitchBlade that relied on operators to fly the platform into targets,' says Stout. AI-enabled weapons, like those with Auterion hardware, are becoming increasingly common and increasingly capable in Ukraine. However, a successful outcome for Artemis does not mean that the U.S. will immediately start deploying fully autonomous weapons capable of seeking out and attacking targets on their own. Pentagon Directive 3000.09 on Autonomy in Weapon Systems, updated in 2023, lays out the rules around deploying autonomous weapons, seeking to 'minimize the probability and consequences of failures in autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems that could lead to unintended engagements' – in plain language, making sure the killer robots do not attack the wrong people. Gregory Allen, director of the Project on AI Governance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that by 2023, no weapon system had been even submitted to the stringent review process for autonomous weapons, and there was general confusion about how the process worked. The 2023 update has brought some clarity and projects like Artemis which specifically aim to develop autonomous weapons suggest there is now an appetite to push forward in this area. This is likely driven by the speed of drone volution in Ukraine, where last week military intelligence started warning of a new type of AI-guided Russian drone, immune to jamming, which flies up and down roads looking for targets. The Ukrainians are trying to get hold of an intact one to analyse it. Previous Russian AI drones have been limited in capability and rely on U.S. hardware acquired illegally through third parties. This is one area where the U.S. is far behind but could easily regain a decisive lead -- if the determination is there.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Defense Innovation Unit picks four firms to test one-way drones
The Defense Innovation Unit announced Friday it's awarding contracts to four companies to prototype long-range, single-use drones that can launch quickly, carry a range of payloads and operate in low-bandwidth conditions. The vendors include two U.S. based companies, Dragoon and AeroVironment, and two Ukrainian firms, unnamed due to safety concerns. The Ukrainian firms are each partnered with a U.S. software company, one with Swan and the other with Auterion. All four firms will test demonstrate their capabilities in April and May, and DIU will make its selections soon after. The program, called Artemis, was initiated last year by Congress following demand from operators in U.S. European Command and Indo-Pacific Command for low-cost, expendable drones as well as counter-drone capabilities. As part of a supplemental spending package for Ukraine, lawmakers allotted the U.S Defense Department around $35 million and directed it to identify and test low-cost uncrewed systems that can navigate and communicate through jamming and spoofing attempts. The intent was to move fast and prove that these systems could be ready to field much faster than a traditional, yearslong defense acquisition program. The Pentagon's acquisition and sustainment office delegated the expendable-drone requirement to DIU last August, according to Trent Emeneker, the organization's lead for the effort. In just three months, DIU solicited proposals, selected 16 promising concepts and staged an initial demonstration last December. Nine of the proposed systems were flight-ready and, from those, officials chose four to advance to the prototyping phase. Emeneker told Defense News that DIU picked proposals that took different tacks at addressing the need. While there was a requirement for a flight range of at least 50km, two of the drones have a range of about 100km and the other two can fly more than 1,000km. In its solicitation, DIU said the vehicles should be hard to detect and track, have several pathways for two-way communications and be equipped with mission planning software. It also called for modular systems that can integrate new hardware or software in a matter of hours. The smaller systems DIU is considering cost under $20,000 each, Emeneker said, while the price for the larger drones is closer to $70,000, depending on the cost of things like cameras and other subsystems as well as the number of systems DOD ends up buying. The goal, according to DIU, is 'mass deployment,' though it's not clear how many drones the department will buy. As part of its evaluation, DIU will consider each vendor's production capacity and how quickly it can deliver in large quantities. Emeneker noted that one of the Ukrainian firms is already producing nearly 200 systems each month to support operations against Russian invading forces. Unlike most other projects DIU takes on, Artemis didn't originate with an acquisition office, but was a congressional interest item, so the organization doesn't have a natural transition partner to buy and field the drones it selects. Emeneker said DIU has pitched the project to a number of program offices that are working on programs with similar requirements, but it's been a challenge to get the services to buy in — and disrupt their current work — before the prototypes have flown. 'We have to prove we can do it, and if we can't do it, then I don't blame people for not signing up,' he said. 'But when we prove we can do it — I'm confident we will — we have to get that message out of, 'Hey, this solution works today. It's at the right price point, it is ready, it's combat proven.''
