The US defence department’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) programme recently presented its Program of the Year Award to Product Manager Army Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (PdM TENCAP) in recognition of Polar Cascade – an effort that delivers counter-uncrewed aerial system (C-UAS) capabilities to forces.
Established in 2022, APFIT provides procurement funding for innovative projects that have completed development and are set to transition to operational use.
As part of the award, APFIT provided PdM TENCAP with additional funding to assist in the delivery of its C-UAS technology.
The Polar Cascade team worked closely with the contract vendor and soldiers to identify a technology that identified a specific gap in their ability to combat adversaries. PM TENCAP received its first tranche of funding for initial delivery of the system in 2025 and to date has provided 30 of the 49 systems.
While many technical details remain classified, Polar Cascade is designed to integrate high-level space and intelligence imagery directly into tactical C-UAS command systems, providing early warning signs of drone deployment before local radars pick them up.
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Image: Polar Cascade project lead Timothy Roseberry (L) receives the APFIT Program of the Year Award from Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael (US Department of Defense photo by Kay Edwards)
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