NATO to adopt SAPIENT as C-UAS standard

At C-UAS TIE23, SAPIENT enabled the integration of companies' C-UAS sensory information into 12 different command-and-control applications. (Janes/Olivia Savage)

NATO will adopt the SAPIENT (Sensing for Asset Protection with Integrated Electronic Networked Technology) protocol developed by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a C-UAS (counter-unmanned aircraft system) standard, Janes learnt at NATO's C-UAS Technical Interoperability Exercise 2023 (TIE23) in Vredepeel, Netherlands, held from 12 to 22 September.

A year-long ratification process will begin in 2024 with 14 countries required to approve it before it is formally adopted as a NATO Standardisation Agreement (STANAG), Cristian Coman, chief scientist for the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance division at NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency), told Janes and other media representatives at the exercise.

SAPIENT was developed by the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) as an open standard that allows the fusion and integration of autonomous sensory information into a single integrated picture. The MoD has already adopted it as a standard for C-UAS.

For the TIE23 trial, the purpose was to enhance the interoperability of C-UASs through the use of SAPIENT, as countering these systems requires a “toolbox” of integrated solutions, Principal Scientist at the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance division, Mario Behn, said.