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Drones (Counter-UAS)

Detect and track drones for counter-UAS (C-UAS) awareness. Select the cuas role, attach a Remote ID receiver and/or a DJI DroneID SDR, and drones appear in ATAK/WinTAK/iTAK as native Cursor on Target (CoT) tracks — often complete with the operator's location.

AryaOS UAS screenshot

AryaOS builds a C-UAS picture from two complementary detection sources:

  • Remote ID / Open Drone ID — the FAA-mandated broadcast that compliant drones emit over Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. Decoded by dronecot.
  • DJI DroneID — DJI's proprietary telemetry, received over the air with an SDR (for example an AntSDR) and decoded by DJICOT.

sikw00fcot additionally converts SiK-radio MAVLink drone telemetry to CoT when you have that link.

Plug & play by design

AirTAK C-UAS is designed to work out of the box: power the device, connect a TAK EUD (ATAK, WinTAK, iTAK) to its Wi-Fi hotspot, and drone tracks flow with no extra configuration. When in doubt, reboot.

Turn on the C-UAS role

  1. Open Cockpit → AryaOS Site (https://<host>/admin/ or https://aryaos.local).
  2. In the Device role card, choose C-UAS — drone detection.
  3. Click Apply role.

AryaOS enables dronecot and sikw00fcot, and stops the air and maritime pipelines.

sudo aryaos-role set cuas

Three CONOP modes

An AirTAK C-UAS can run in one of three connectivity modes:

AirTAK CONOP modes

  1. Standalone. One or more EUDs connect directly to the AirTAK Wi-Fi hotspot or Ethernet. This is the default, off-the-shelf configuration and needs no extra setup.
  2. LAN / MANET. AirTAK's Wi-Fi or Ethernet connects to an existing LAN or MANET, extending coverage across the team.
  3. TAK Server. AirTAK connects to a network and forwards CoT to a TAK Server.

Standalone using Wi-Fi

  1. Connect USB power. On kitted units, match the color-coded connectors (yellow to yellow, black to black).
  2. After about two minutes, a Wi-Fi network named AryaOS-XXXX appears. Join it.
  3. Open ATAK, WinTAK, or iTAK — drone tracks arrive over Mesh SA automatically.

Joining an existing network

To put AirTAK on your own Wi-Fi (which disables its hotspot), or to use Ethernet, follow the onboarding steps in Offline backpack and the Networking pages, then reach the console at https://aryaos.local or the device's DHCP address.

How it flows

flowchart LR
    RID[Remote ID<br/>Wi-Fi / BT] --> DC[dronecot]
    DJI[DJI DroneID<br/>AntSDR / SDR] --> DJICOT[DJICOT]
    MAV[SiK MAVLink] --> SK[sikw00fcot]
    DC & DJICOT & SK -->|CoT| H[Charontak hub]
    H -->|Mesh SA 239.2.3.1:6969| E[ATAK / WinTAK / iTAK]

Each detector emits CoT to the Charontak hub at udp+wo://127.0.0.1:28087; Charontak forwards to Mesh SA and any TAK Server lanes.

Verify tracks

  1. Connect an EUD to the AryaOS-XXXX hotspot and open your TAK client.

  2. On the box:

    systemctl status dronecot sikw00fcot

  3. Fly a Remote ID-compliant drone (or a known DJI aircraft) nearby and confirm the track — including, where broadcast, the operator/pilot position.

What you'll see

Remote ID broadcasts typically include the drone's position, altitude, and the operator's ground location, letting you map both the aircraft and its pilot. DJI DroneID similarly carries home/operator coordinates.

Connecting an EUD

AirTAK C-UAS is tested with all TAK products (iTAK, WinTAK, ATAK). Out of the box, local feeders send to Charontak on the gateway, which multicasts CoT to the Mesh SA group 239.2.3.1:6969. Upstream TAK Server destinations are added as Charontak lanes — see Connect a TAK Server.