Side-by-side
CICADA eMissile (SKY SPHERE) vs FAAD C2 (Forward Area Air Defense Command & Control)
Spec comparison for two products on Aviation Souk. Both compete in Counter-UAS & Base Air Defence.
Counter-UAS & Base Air Defence
CICADA eMissile (SKY SPHERE)
by Diehl Defence
Electrically propelled interceptor missile delivering hard- or soft-kill against NATO Class I/II drones within a modular, scalable C-UAS architecture.
Counter-UAS & Base Air Defence
FAAD C2 (Forward Area Air Defense Command & Control)
by Northrop Grumman
The U.S. Army's programme-of-record SHORAD command-and-control software — fusing sensors, effectors, and real-time fire control onto a single screen for short-range air defence, C-RAM, and C-UAS on one architecture.
| Cost of ownership | CICADA eMissile (SKY SPHERE) | FAAD C2 (Forward Area Air Defense Command & Control) |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | — | — |
| Lead time (weeks) | ?–? | ?–? |
| Delivery | — | — |
| Install | — | — |
| GCC airports deployed | 0 | 0 |
| Certifications | 0 | 0 |
Specs
Technical specifications.
| Spec | CICADA eMissile (SKY SPHERE) | FAAD C2 (Forward Area Air Defense Command & Control) |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 700 mm | — |
| Diameter | 300 mm | — |
| Launch weight | <10 kg | — |
| Maximum speed | ~200 km/h | — |
| Range | ~5 km | — |
| Endurance | Up to 5 min | — |
| Payload options | Fragmentation warhead (lethal) or net dispenser (non-lethal) | — |
| Guidance | Pre-instruction + data-link + autonomous IR seeker (terminal) | — |
| Target class | NATO Class I and smaller Class II UAS | — |
| SKY SPHERE deployment | Vehicle-mounted or stationary container | — |
| Programme of record | — | U.S. Army SHORAD C2 since 1986 |
| DoD C-UAS C2 designation | — | U.S. Secretary of Defense-designated C-UAS C2 system of record |
| Missions on one platform | — | SHORAD + C-RAM + C-UAS simultaneously |
| Operator interface | — | Single integrated air picture (SIAP); tablet-deployable |
| Architecture | — | Open, vendor-agnostic, non-proprietary |
| Sensor integrations (examples) | — | AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel, AN/TPQ-53, M-ACE |
| Effector integrations (examples) | — | Avenger, Patriot, Stinger, Fortem interceptors |
| Interoperability standards | — | JADC2 messaging; NATO air-defence architecture compatible |
| C-UAS operational experience | — | >8 years deployed |
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