{"id":34100,"date":"2024-02-09T18:09:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T18:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/09\/centcoms-sandtrap-hackathon-targets-drones-amid-middle-east-barrage\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:57:11","slug":"centcoms-sandtrap-hackathon-targets-drones-amid-middle-east-barrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/it-networks-battlefield-tech\/2024\/02\/09\/centcoms-sandtrap-hackathon-targets-drones-amid-middle-east-barrage\/","title":{"rendered":"CENTCOM\u2019s \u2018Sandtrap\u2019 hackathon targets drones amid Middle East barrage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than a dozen coders handpicked from across the U.S. Department of Defense spent a week chipping away at data and software challenges associated with swatting down drones in the Greater Middle East, Central Command said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effort, dubbed Sandtrap, produced prototypes that improved the speed and accuracy of unmanned aerial system<\/a> countermeasures, according to a Feb. 9 announcement from CENTCOM, the Pentagon\u2019s combatant command whose area of responsibility includes Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downing a drone or other aerial threat requires spotting, classifying, tracking and targeting it in a process that is increasingly digital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. military has in recent months faced a barrage of drone and missile attacks, including in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden<\/a>. A one-way drone strike at the Tower 22 installation, near the al-Tanf garrison and Syrian border, killed three soldiers in January. Iranian-supplied militants were blamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\t