Duke to Lead $24M Army Research Center to Detect, Thwart and Control Enemy Drones

A Full-Stack Approach to Countering UAVs

The end-product goal of the new ICE-CEM center is a library of fundamental abilities, like tools in a toolbox, and an autonomous playbook that knows when, where and how to deploy them to achieve optimal outcomes. In particular, ICE-CEM’s vision is an intelligent cyber-electromagnetic ‘web’ that can autonomously sense and understand the threat, identify vulnerabilities across communications, navigation, sensing and autonomy, and then determine and execute the most effective response. For example, the system might spoof GPS signals to send a drone off course, insert false data into its sensors or subroutines so that the drone reports incorrect information back to its source, or even override the drone’s original programming to take full control of its resources.

“Traditional electronic warfare has largely focused on disrupting communications or navigation,” said Pajic. “But increasingly autonomous drones will be able to continue their missions even when those links are lost. ICE-CEM takes a fundamentally broader approach by looking across the entire system. The goal is not simply to develop individual attacks or countermeasures but enable reasoning about which combination of cyber and electromagnetic effects is most likely to achieve the mission, and adapt when the target responds.”

To achieve this, ICE-CEM will pull together a wide assortment of fundamental and applied research programs.

Seven faculty members from Duke’s Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) will form a full-stack core of research expertise for the center. Their expertise spans security of cyber and physical systems, AI security, secure communications and electromagnetic systems, edge AI, and game-theoretic reasoning that enables autonomous systems to anticipate adversarial behavior, evaluate competing actions and adapt their responses.

“Duke ECE develops technologies across the stack—from materials and devices to sensing, computing, communications and intelligent systems—that connect the digital and physical worlds,” said Hai “Helen” Li, chair and Marie Foote Reel E’46 Distinguished Professor of Duke ECE. “ICE-CEM brings many of these strengths together around an important national security challenge. It demonstrates how sustained investment in foundational research, combined with interdisciplinary collaboration, can lead to integrated systems with real-world impact.”

Miroslav Pajic has already demonstrated the ability to fool autonomous radar sensors into believing almost anything is possible. Watch as the technology creates a phantom car where none exists and tricks the radar into thinking a real car has quickly deviated from its actual course.

Duke faculty will be joined by many long-time partners and domain experts from partner institutions who bring a wealth of knowledge in these fields as well as global navigation system spoofing, 5G and cellular security, wireless systems and advanced electromagnetic effects.

This broad academic expertise will be complemented by Lockheed Martin, whose deep experience in defense systems and operational needs will help translate ICE-CEM’s interdisciplinary research into integrated capabilities relevant to national security missions.

ICE-CEM also aims to become a national hub for defense innovation, while serving as a focal point for North Carolina’s rapidly growing defense ecosystem—bringing together the Army, other defense and government stakeholders, researchers, startups and established industry leaders to accelerate collaboration and move new technologies toward real-world national security impact.

“Continual, full-stack UAV evaluation of the cyber electromagnetic concepts emerging from ICE-CEM center will help drive the Army’s war-readiness for multi-domain operations,” said Dr. Paul Yu, DEVCOM ARO program manager. “Through this partnership, the Army will leverage university-led innovation to pioneer decisive technologies that secure electromagnetic spectrum dominance. Ultimately, this joint initiative ensures that next-generation cyber-electromagnetic defenses can be rapidly fielded to meet evolving national security threats.”