By Rodd Cayton
As an intelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, Doug Wood saw firsthand how the first generation of small combat drones showed a need for improvement.
He’s taken a step toward providing that improvement, as co-founder and CEO of DFA Systems, a small East Mountains company dedicated to, in his own words, equipping the American warfighter to “punch above his weight.”
The key to that ability, Wood told the Route 66 Independent, is the Precision Flying Grenade, a project DFA Systems is developing.
It’s a one-way attack drone/loitering munition with a unique flight control system. Wood said he got the idea from weapons Ukrainian troops are deploying in that nation’s ongoing war with Russia.
He said he started thinking about ways to take that technology to the next level.
“I wasn’t seeing companies in the U.S. that were doing a good job (of it),” Wood said. They were making direct copies of what the Ukrainians were doing or reconnaissance tools that were weaponized as an afterthought.”
Wood said he wanted to give an infantry soldier more capability without adding complications that make it harder to focus on his mission.
The Precision Flying Grenade, he said, has a modular design and a soldier can carry multiple types of munitions, which can be switched out to fit the needs of the moment.
Those include anti-personnel, incendiary and armor-piercing rounds.
“Any soldier or airman or Marine can carry a bunch of them in a backpack, along with all the other mission gear,” Wood said.
The Precision Flying Grenade is more like a scaled-down smart missile than similar types of munitions, the company says. Its planned range is 10 kilometers (6.21 miles), and its flight path can be altered after launch.
The company envisions the U.S. military as its main customer, but is also considering developing a non-lethal variant of the Precision Flying Grenade for law enforcement use.
Future products, Wood said, will focus on enhancing the capabilities of infantry fighters.
DFA Systems recently received a $ 50,000 science and technology grant from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Wood said that the grant is to support travel to promote the company’s products to the U.S. armed forces.
“The Economic Development Department does a great job of recognizing companies with good potential who just need help getting off the ground,” Wood said. “We’re grateful.
Other staff at DFA Systems include Carl Peterson and Dr. Zachary Lippay.
According to the company’s website, it has a cooperative research and development agreement with Sandia National Laboratories that will allow DFA Systems access to some of the lab’s cutting-edge computer vision technology.
A partnership with the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) means the company will outfit opposing-force troops with DFA Systems equipment for training exercises.
DFA Systems is in the process of negotiating sales with JRTC and the US Marine Corps’ Special Operations Command.