Teledyne FLIR OEM, a Teledyne Technologies company, has announced the release of Prism C-UAS, a high-performance counter-unmanned aircraft system detection and tracking software stack designed to address the escalating global threat of unauthorized drone activity.
With cheap, expendable, and increasingly autonomous drones shifting unauthorized activity from a regulatory challenge into a significant security threat, the defense and security industries are rapidly expanding their capabilities. The Federal Aviation Administration reports more than 100 drone incursions per month near U.S. airports, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security testified that more than 60,000 drone flights were detected near the U.S.-Mexico border in the final six months of 2024.
Jared Faraudo, Vice President of Product Management, Teledyne FLIR OEM, “Software has become a defining performance differentiator in today’s C‑UAS environment. Prism C‑UAS enables sub two x two‑pixel drone detection and tracking, providing a significant increase in drone detection range over conventional systems. It reflects our vertical integration and domain expertise, transforming raw thermal data into actionable intelligence for modern, multi‑layered defense architectures.”
The system combines patented thermal infrared image signal processing with artificial intelligence-driven perception to maximize the time available to respond to threats. Leveraging patented denoise, local contrast enhancement, and upsampling algorithms to enhance the target signal-to-noise ratio, the software increases the moving target indicator detection range. Once detected, targets are processed by an artificial intelligence-based object detector and tracked by an efficient multi-object tracker to reduce false positives and maintain persistent tracks. The software is optimized specifically for small, fast, and maneuvering drone targets.
Designed for streamlined integration, the software natively supports data from Teledyne FLIR OEM’s Boson and Neutrino infrared camera families, as well as select commercial off-the-shelf visible cameras to enable multispectral sensor configurations. It lowers integration risk through Teledyne FLIR OEM’s technology, robust developer tools, and technical support, enabling scalable deployment across a wide range of global architectures.
