BOISE — (Below is the verbatim of the story that aired)
The war in Ukraine has for the first time demonstrated the impact ordinary drone technology can have on the battlefield.
(I think that the side that figures out how to stop the other sides drones is going to have a huge advantage in the next conflict and I would put more money in defensive drone technology more than offensive drone technology." said Lt. Col. Daniel Davis.
The drones aren’t hardened military tech. They’re right off the shelf.
And local company High Point aerotechnologies is at the forefront of knocking them down.
“We produce a product called the sawtooth.it is a counter uas system that identifies tracks detects and defeats nefarious drones.”
High Point was initially a company called Black Sage, started by two Boise residents.
1257 “They met at a coffeeshop and wrote an on a napkin an idea that they had.”
And this was their idea, an anti drone contraption that I first saw years ago while covering a story in the foothills. I asked what it was, they told me it was anti drone technology but they couldn’t do a story because they were showing it to the military.”
All these years later, the company has been bought out but it’s still headquartered in Boise.
And it just received a 900 million dollar contract to provide their systems to the U-S military on a as needed basis.
But that’s not all
“The system is not just for the military it’s for all sorts of applications.”
There’s protection of critical infrastructure, protection of large gatherings like sporting events and then there’s the border.
“The cartels purposefully overwhelm the border patrol agents with illegal crossings in one area as a distraction and then they smuggle the bad guys drugs across in other areas.
Wood recently traveled to the us Mexico border with the governor and says the High Point aerotechnology could make a difference.
"its shocking what’s going on at the border. Until you go down and actually see what’s going on at the border. And exactly this system can at least help detect the crossings.”
Wood says their device was first created to help spot deer and elk crossing busy Idaho highways as an early warning system to drivers. But she says It can detect humans just as well.
And they’re excited about their 900- million dollars worth of prospects for the future.
