Exploring Counter UAS with the Advanced Naval Capabilities Unit

Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) technology helps our sailors detect, track, identify, and defeat unauthorized drones before they pose a threat to personnel or critical infrastructure. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is exploring practical ways to detect and mitigate these threats in maritime environments.

Playing a key role in this effort is the Advanced Naval Capabilities Unit (ANC), which delivers the RCN's core capabilities across several operational areas, including:

• Uncrewed systems
• Maritime Interdiction Operations
• Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR)
• and Tactical Boat Operations

Beyond delivering these capabilities, ANC also focuses on operational experimentation. Rather than testing systems in isolation, ANC evaluates how new tools interact with real people, environments, and operational constraints. The goal is not just to see whether a system works, but to understand what it can and cannot deliver once it is placed in sailors' hands. ANC's work in testing and evaluating systems directly contributes to the development of training, tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for sailors.

When it comes to operational experimentation, Lt(N) Daniel Song, a Maritime Tactical Operator with ANC said it best.

"Think of us as the unit that takes new technologies and marries them with proven tactics. We look at how systems actually perform in an operational context and provide feedback on their suitability."

We saw this earlier in the year, at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax, where ANC conducted a learning exercise using the Orion H10, a portable, directional counter-UAS system designed to disrupt the operation of small drones. During the activity, Marine Tactical Operators flew commercially available drones while counter-UAS teams employed detection and jamming equipment to observe how the systems interacted in real time.

This demonstration was conducted as part of a broader base security activity, providing senior leaders and Marine Tactical Operators with a firsthand look at how counter-UAS systems function outside of a controlled environment.

"The goal wasn't to prove we had a perfect solution," said Song. "It was about seeing what actually happens when you put these systems into use - what works, where there are limitations, and what assumptions need to be tested."

Counter-UAS systems are rarely foolproof. Environmental conditions, operator actions, and drone design all influence effectiveness, and exercises and demonstrations are often where gaps become visible.

"No system works all the time," Song explained. "Even very capable counter-UAS solutions are only effective some of the time. That's why hands-on experimentation is so important."

This approach allows counter-UAS capabilities to be integrated organically into ship operations, while still benefiting from specialist oversight and expertise when required.

While systems like the Orion continue to be employed across the fleet, Lt(N) Song explains that the broader counter-UAS challenge remains dynamic. Both drone technology and the techniques used to employ and defeat it continue to evolve rapidly.

"It's a constant cat-and-mouse game," he said. "You develop a method to counter one approach, and something new emerges in response."

For that reason, systems such as the Orion H10 are viewed as starting points rather than end-state solutions.

Drone technology is evolving at the pace of days and weeks, not years and Counter-UAS efforts evolve in response, often working to keep pace with those rapid advancements. The solution today will be obsolete tomorrow, which is why units like ANC exist - to test, learn, adapt, and push forward continuously.