A US Air Force program is giving students a front-row seat to modern warfare challenges by tasking them with developing solutions to emerging aerial drone threats.
The initiative, called Alpha Blue, aims to produce student-led solutions that can be field-tested quickly, with a focus on small aerial drones that existing defense systems struggle to counter.
Part of the Air University Innovation Accelerator, the initiative is intended to prioritize technologies that are effective even if they are not fully matured.
Alpha Blue will connect students with military operators, industry partners, and government stakeholders to help identify crucial gaps in current defense capabilities.
“Recent conflicts from across the Middle East and throughout Ukraine have signaled a dramatic change to the character of warfare with the increased use of unmanned aerial systems,” Lt. Col. Shain Bestick, an Air War College student, stated.
“Governments are scrambling to counter this threat.”
Changing the Usual Approach
The program wants students to figure out the gaps between military counter-drone capabilities and civil airspace constraints, with current systems described as costly and difficult to scale against evolving threats.
To address this, a team of students conceptualized a counter-drone solution using commercial off-the-shelf devices equipped with multiple sensing capabilities to detect and track aerial systems.
The system processes data on its own without relying on continuous network connectivity, moving away from centralized architectures.
Additional prototypes were also developed using commercial hardware and AI tools, keeping costs low while expanding functionality.
“We are changing the game from centralized systems to distributed networks,” Bestick said. “Our architecture uses a mesh of commercial devices and processes data locally, reducing cost and increasing resilience.”
Early Results and Next Steps
Alpha Blue teams, working with Auburn University and Troy University, have already tested early prototypes, including a software solution capable of differentiating drones and was built in less than a day.
While other technologies remain undisclosed, several prototypes are now moving toward flight testing to evaluate performance in more realistic environments.
“This is just the beginning,” Bestick noted. “We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and look forward to the next iteration.”
