IMDEX 2025: ST Engineering unveils AI-capable C-UAS solution

The RF Jammer 1000 that was unveiled by ST Engineering at IMDEX 2025. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)

Singapore's ST Engineering has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI)- and machine learning (ML)-driven unmanned aircraft system (UAS) decoder that can detect drones that do not operate on commonly used bands of communication.

Speaking at the IMDEX 2025 naval and defence exhibition that took place in Singapore from 6 to 8 May, a representative from the company told Janes that the RF Drone Decoder 1000 has been introduced amid a proliferation of easily accessible UASs that can be used for nefarious purposes.

These include self-assembled UASs that are built from components that can be sourced online and may not communicate on commonly used radio frequency (RF) spectrums.

As such, these UASs may not exist on databases of known communication protocols and this would make it harder to carry out effective counter-drone operations, the representative said.

Against this backdrop, ST Engineering has developed the RF Drone Decoder 1000, which utilises AI and ML to detect the existence of communication protocols and signals that may be generated by a UAS and its operator.

In examining the sequence of data packets that are sent back and forth between a UAS and its operator, the RF Drone Decoder 1000 is able to ‘learn' if these are related to possibly nefarious operations, according to the representative.

The counter-UAS (C-UAS) operator can then decide to deploy the most suitable effectors against the hostile drones, and these include kinetic and non-kinetic solutions. These include the company's RF Jammer 1000, which is also being displayed in public for the first time at the IMDEX 2025 exhibition.