CISGUARD
About the *project.*
The rapid democratization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is fundamentally altering the security landscape. An accessible hobby has now evolved into something much larger, both for good, with a plethora of applications and solutions that improve our quality of life, and for bad, opening doors to attacks on everyday structures we depend on. This growing threat targets critical infrastructure underpinning modern society. UAVs threaten ports, airports, refineries, prisons, power generation plants, fuel storage terminals, and water treatment facilities. They bypass physical barriers with ease, operate silently, and allow bad actors to acquire or construct them at minimal cost.
Recent geopolitical turbulence has highlighted this vulnerability. The conflict in Ukraine, in particular, exposes the vulnerability of essential infrastructure. Rapidly expanding aerial technologies further increase this exposure, causing serious consequences for the stability and continuity of modern economies and societies.
CISGUARD is Portugal's response to this challenge. The project aims to develop a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) that is civilian-oriented, low-cost, modular, portable, and highly effective. It is fully compliant with current national and European regulatory frameworks. This practical, deployable solution is designed for operators of critical infrastructure who need protection today.
Key *objectives.*
Enhance Portugal's National Security
As UAVs grow more accessible and capable, threats to critical infrastructure increase. Protecting against these threats is crucial for security and the economy. Disruptions to ports, energy facilities, airports, or water infrastructure incur serious financial and societal costs.
Advance Technological Sovereignty
A standards-compliant, commercially viable C-UAS can strengthen Portugal's position in the global security technology market. It can be offered to allied nations, international organizations, and civilian infrastructure operators worldwide.
Boost Global Competitiveness
CISGUARD is more than a project. It is a foundation for a new chapter in innovation in critical infrastructure protection and autonomous systems security. Technologies developed by CISGUARD - AI-driven threat detection, directed-energy countermeasures, and modular sensor fusion - are highly exportable.
Beyond Vision's *role*.
Beyond Vision adds proven expertise in UAV systems and autonomous aerial technologies to the consortium behind the project. Our insider knowledge helps understand how drones are built, how they behave, and how to detect and neutralize them. This expertise is invaluable for designing a C-UAS effective against current and emerging UAV threats.
Some of the key aspects of the project where our expertise will be essential include: AI-driven analysis to support operators' decision making, Non-Kinetic RF and Direct Energy technologies, to improve efficiency and security in neutralizing threats, and modularity, a key part of development, as the system must enable rapid deployment across multiple platforms and operational environments.