The Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization, also known as JIDO, is looking far and wide to find better ways of thwarting enemy unmanned aerial systems and other improvised weapons, its director said Oct. 17.
Militant groups such as ISIS have employed numerous types of improvised explosive devices to attack U.S. troops and allied forces. They include vehicle-borne, personnel-borne, boat-borne and drone-borne bombs, as well as booby-trapped buildings and tunnels, Army Lt. Gen. Michael Shields noted during a meeting with reporters at a media day in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The threat posed by enemy UAS has grown significantly over the past two years, and Shields’ team has been charged with finding solutions.
“That is a natural synergy for us in that they are an airborne IED,” he said.
JIDO has been working with its traditional partners such as national laboratories, federally funded research-and-development centers and university research centers, and the defense industry. But the organization is also reaching out to nontraditional groups including tech accelerators, venture capitalists, startups, the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental in Silicon Valley, the Hacking for Defense program, and the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology offices, Shields noted.
“That might help us solve some of our … foundational science problems or challenges,” he said.