Silent Swarm July 2024: USV Demonstration of Drone Rupture Managed Access and Cellular Control-Plane C-UAS
Blind Tiger Communications’ Drone Rupture system was selected through a competitive process involving more than 700 applicant companies to participate in Silent Swarm 2024. The evaluation demonstrated Drone Rupture operating on an unmanned surface vessel (USV) on Lake Huron, remotely controlled via cellular backhaul, while enforcing managed access and cellular control-plane security policies against threat devices.
What Was Demonstrated
Silent Swarm assessed Drone Rupture as an operationally relevant capability for environments where physical access is limited and connectivity must be maintained over commercial infrastructure. In this event, Drone Rupture was deployed on a USV and operated remotely using cellular backhaul, demonstrating that managed access and policy enforcement can be executed at standoff while still providing actionable outputs to command-and-control (C2).
Managed Access and C2 Notification
A central application demonstrated was managed access: trusted connectivity was maintained for approved operator use while enforcing policy against non-vetted devices. In practice, the system allowed the authorized connection required to operate the USV over cellular backhaul, while simultaneously detecting and assessing other cellular devices present in the environment.
The system supported a mission-relevant workflow:
- Detect cellular-enabled devices in the Area of Interest
- Identify and classify devices by policy category (approved vs non-vetted / unknown)
- Notify the C2 console with findings in near real time
- Mitigate if necessary by applying selective cellular policy controls to threat devices
Application Areas Evaluated
Silent Swarm reinforced the operational value of cellular control-plane access across multiple mission applications beyond a single vignette. The demonstrated and evaluated applications included:
- Counter-UAS (C-UAS): Addressing cellular-enabled drones by controlling the cellular modem pathway rather than relying on RF denial.
- Managed Access: Allowlisting and maintaining trusted communications for approved users while denying non-vetted devices.
- Cellular Security for Mobile/Maritime Assets: Extending policy enforcement to standoff platforms (e.g., USVs) operating via commercial backhaul.
- Device Control for Phones & IoT: Applying uniform policy to cellular-enabled endpoints that can create blind spots inside secured perimeters.
Progression to Multi-Node and Swarming Concepts
Silent Swarm also supports an upward progression of capability fusion: from single-node deployments to coordinated multi-node systems. This aligns with later demonstrations—such as meshed, multi-unit operations shown in African Lion—where multiple nodes coordinate coverage, deconflict behavior, and extend the Area of Interest while feeding a common C2 picture.
This progression matters because modern threats (drones, phones, IoT) increasingly exploit the same commercial cellular environment. A multi-node architecture enables more persistent control, better coverage continuity, and more resilient operations across complex terrain, infrastructure, and maneuver.
Throughout Silent Swarm, Drone Rupture’s approach remained consistent with Blind Tiger’s guiding principles: standards-compliant operation, selective effects, and a privacy-preserving model that avoids payload access and avoids collection or storage of personally identifiable information.