Guardian Shield works by surveying, detecting and identifying threat signals. With the threat identified, it employs a precise and targeted countermeasure to protect life and property against a potential detonation. Designed and built in the United Kingdom, Guardian Shield will be in service with the British Army in 2025, following contract award in 2022. It will subsequently also be available for export to military, security and policing customers.
UK Armed Forces have operated a Leonardo EOD electronic countermeasure since 2012, part of the company’s 45+ years of experience working with the British Army. This ongoing engagement with the operator has led to the creation of Guardian Shield as a flexible, modular system built on open architecture standards. This enables the system to integrate and interoperate with other tactical Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) systems which also use supported open standards.
Guardian Shield comprises a forward element, hosting advanced electronic surveillance and electronic attack capabilities, and a rear element to manage the processing, command and control. This end-to-end approach contrasts with legacy EOD countermeasures that were reliant on independent jammer systems. Guardian Shield is cost effective, requires minimal maintenance and is highly adaptable to future threats.
Low size, weight and power requirements, alongside its use of open hardware standards, enables Guardian Shield to be transported in existing vehicles commonly operated by EOD specialists and can be moved into position by standard RCVs. Guardian Shield can adapt to a wide range of operator-defined ECM plans to survey, detect and identify threat signals.
Leonardo is a pioneer in electronic surveillance, electronic defence and electronic attack techniques and algorithms in all domains. Guardian Shield benefits from this technology, enabling operators to configure its software-defined radios to defeat threats past, present and future across a broad frequency range.
Guardian Shield features best-of-breed components and common open architectures, produced through the partnership of Team Endure. Led by Leonardo, the team includes UK small-to-medium enterprises Comms Audit, Kirintec, Mercury Systems, Lincad, Waymont Consulting, EWS and vehicle integrator Marshall Land Systems.
