A new counter-drone platform from US Firm Wrap Technologies is pairing thermal polarimetry with artificial intelligence to detect threats early and coordinate responses from a single operating layer.
Called WrapShield, the tool uses TPiCore thermal-polarimetric multimodal sensing for its detection layer, with an architecture designed to incorporate additional sensing technologies over time.
Unlike conventional thermal imaging that primarily detects heat, thermal polarimetry also measures how infrared radiation is polarized, giving AI additional data to identify and classify potential threats.
For coordination, WrapShield leverages AI-assisted software to fuse sensor data, generate courses of action, and integrate with existing command-and-control networks.
The platform can also connect with a range of response options, including third-party systems, enabling kinetic or non-kinetic as well as lethal or non-lethal effects based on mission requirements.
WrapShield will debut as a counter-drone platform before expanding to a broader range of defense, public safety, critical infrastructure, and border security missions.
“We’re beginning with one of the most urgent operational challenges facing the world today – countering the rapidly growing threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems,” said Scot Cohen, chief executive of Wrap.
A New Take on Thermal Imaging
TPiCore captures multiple layers of infrared data while measuring the polarization of thermal radiation at the pixel level, allowing it to reconstruct an object’s physical characteristics and material composition.
It detects objects without relying on radio-frequency signals and generates what the company describes as a unique polarimetric fingerprint that cannot be spoofed, jammed, or turned off.
Developed by Israeli firm Frenel Imaging, TPiCore supports real-time edge processing across drone, ground, fixed-site, naval, and handheld platforms.
“As asymmetric threats become more accessible to lone actors and sophisticated adversaries alike, our customers need platform-level solutions that match the speed, scale, and economics of the threat,” Cohen stressed.
