Picket

Picket connects detection, track fusion, electronic defeat, kinetic interception and operator command into one counter-UAS and air-defense system. Distributed nodes protect an approach corridor, a fixed asset or a deployed force without making one sensor or one effector carry the entire mission.

The gap it closes

Air defense fails when detection, decision and defeat sit on separate screens and separate timelines. A cue must become a classified track; the track must reach the right response layer; the operator must understand and authorize the action; the system must retain magazine and node state after the engagement.

Picket closes that chain through Sentinel.

Detect, decide, defeat, sustain

Layer	Function	Tairos system relationship
Sense	Detect and track with RF, acoustic, optical and radar inputs	Drone detection, Iris sensing and integrated external radar feeds
Decide	Correlate tracks, prioritize threats and assign a suitable response	Sentinel Fusion and Command, presented through Panorama
Defeat softly	Disrupt suitable control or navigation paths	EW soft-kill
Defeat kinetically	Engage threats that require a physical intercept	Strix/FPV low-end layer, Nova-I dedicated interceptor layer and an integrated terminal gun layer
Sustain	Maintain operator, communications, node and magazine state	Ground segment and Sentinel housekeeping

The response sequence begins with the lowest-cost suitable layer and escalates only when the threat or outcome requires it.

The node

A Picket node combines a ready effector or sensor function, local power, communications and a Sentinel edge presence. Standardized mechanical, power, data and command interfaces allow nodes and effectors to be configured around the defended area.

Each node contributes to the shared picture. Removing one node does not remove the system’s entire sensing or command path; neighboring coverage and distributed processing preserve the belt where geometry permits.

Deployment configurations

Approach belt

Overlapping nodes form a defensive line across the likely threat axis. Depth can be added against leakage or saturation.

Point defense

A ring protects a base, port, industrial asset or other defined site.

Expeditionary defense

Palletized, vehicle-mounted or UGV-mounted elements move with the force and connect to the same operating picture.

Picket is a lower defensive layer beneath higher-tier surface-to-air systems. It is intended to preserve those high-cost weapons for threats that require them, not replace them.

Sensor and effector integration

Picket integrates established radar and early-warning feeds rather than requiring one proprietary radar. Sentinel correlates those tracks with Tairos RF, acoustic and optical sensing. The same integration model applies to electronic, interceptor and terminal layers.

Operator authority and safe default

Panorama gives the operator one picture of tracks, priorities, node state and available responses. The operator can authorize, veto and abort. The default is hold unless classification, airspace rules, the authorized mission envelope and rules of engagement permit action.

Engagement authority remains in Sentinel Command. It does not propagate from one node to another, and all effect configurations are limited to legitimate end users under program-specific controls.