Praetorian Aeronautics is partnering with the University of Adelaide on a Defence Trailblazer-funded project, HADRIAN, an advanced AI-enhanced system designed to revolutionise command and control for autonomous defence platforms.
This next-generation system is essential in countering the increasing threat posed by low-cost, swarm-capable drones seen in Ukraine and the Middle East that overwhelm legacy defence systems, particularly in contested, GPS-denied, and communications jammed environments.
The project will develop HADRIAN’s capability to rapidly integrate and process data from air, ground, and maritime sensors using multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) AI techniques. Research will focus on refining the integration of MARL AI algorithms to accurately detect, classify, and prioritise complex moving threats, before formulating the most effective swarming countermeasures. HADRIAN’s automated capabilities significantly reduce the sensor-to-effector cycle and operator workload.
The Defence Trailblazer collaboration is a vital step for Praetorian to continue developing scalable, cost-effective autonomous countermeasures that outpace the rapidly evolving challenges in modern drone defence.
Pictured from left: Dr Margaret Law, Hamish Earl (Defence Trailblazer), Brett Hill (Praetorian Aeronautics), Associate Professor Claudia Szabo (University of Adelaide), Dr Sanjay Mazumdar (Defence Trailblazer).
Brett Hill, CEO of Praetorian Aeronautics, highlighted the AI-driven capabilities of the system. “HADRIAN is powered by frontier algorithms in the field of multi-agent reinforcement learning to enable the system to realise “Any Sensor, Best Effector” sensor fusion,” said Mr Hill. “This system will help protect the Australian Defence Force and its allies from threats that have already proven capable of overwhelming current air defence systems and continue to evolve.”
“This project will allow for the exploration of many single agent solutions and a deep understanding of their behaviours across many scenarios, including those focused on resilience and robustness,” said academic lead Associate Professor Claudia Szabo, Defence Trailblazer’s Theme Lead for Robotics, Autonomous Systems and AI at the University of Adelaide.
“The research project will help the Defence sector experiment with methodologies and techniques to effectively defend against various drone threats that exist now, and those that are emerging, and will help to design cost effective counter solutions to these problems.”
The proof-of-concept prototype will allow for the integration of both highly mobile ground-based and air-launched C-UAS interceptors to create an integrated area defence system capable of dealing with advanced AI powered drone swarms.
Dr Margaret Law, General Manager of TDA at Defence Trailblazer, said “Praetorian has been an active partner of Defence Trailblazer collaborating and participating in both workforce and research and development projects. We’re pleased to be supporting this project, which delivers critical capability to the ADF and its allies.”
For more information, visit the Praetorian Aeronautics website.
