DarkSaber Labs develops EW system for dismounted troops
The Yankee One electronic warfare system from DarkSaber Labs. (Alejandro Sanchez)
Programme officials at DarkSaber Labs anticipate the new Yankee One electronic warfare (EW) system will be operational by the end of 2025, Janes has learnt.
The platform's manpackable design, specifically geared for dismounted operations, will allow Yankee One to stand out in an increasingly congested field of EW technology, said DarkSaber Labs CEO Brian O'Connor.
Yankee One is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered sensor fusion system that autonomously interprets electronic signals, imagery, and communications, providing the operator with real-time information.
The company showcased Yankee One at the AI+ Expo from 2 to 4 June in Washington, DC. Installed on a backpack with a tablet attached to the operator's chest area, the system will provide “situational awareness, survivability, and lethality” so warfighters “can understand the information environment and collect valuable data at the edge”, O'Connor said in a 16 June email to Janes .
O'Connor said the company is in talks with the Pentagon to “test, iterate, and procure Yankee One”, with a focus on equipping Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) units with the system.
The system could also support US Army efforts to move away from centralised command-and-control nodes by providing “ground force commanders the autonomy to make data-driven decisions with these types of edge compute capabilities”, O'Connor added.
The key to the Yankee One platform is it “utilises software and AI agents to automate many of the processes for the intelligence component of the system”, and DarkSaber is teaming up with industry partners for the hardware, without elaborating on which companies are involved.
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