
Homeland Protection
Creating Disruptive Capabilities That Safeguard the Homeland
Johns Hopkins APL’s Homeland Protection Mission Area develops impactful capabilities that protect the U.S. from asymmetric threats by global competitors and foreign or domestic violent extremist organizations that target our safety, democratic processes, and way of life. We support the missions of a range of U.S. government, defense, and intelligence agencies and collaborate with other APL mission areas on innovative research and development for national security.
Research and Development
We are pursuing four cross-cutting objectives:
- Developing sensing and analytic systems to discover and characterize hidden adversary activities that target the U.S.
- Ensuring U.S. senior leaders maintain the ability to make and communicate effective decisions in ambiguous scenarios, and execute command and control over them.
- Ensuring the functionality of critical infrastructure, even when under attack.
- Protecting the U.S. from attacks that leverage chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive weapons.
In addition, through the Institute for Assured Autonomy, we are building a holistic framework for the predictable and seamless integration of autonomous systems into ecosystems to ensure safe and reliable operations that are secure and resilient to attack, and have a beneficial and ethical impact on society.
Highlights
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Senior Leader Helicopter Communications
APL is working with the Navy to enhance communications on the senior leader helicopter fleet. -
Biological Threat Analysis
APL is developing innovative ways to evaluate biological threats in a natural environment. -
Situational Awareness for First Responders
Under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, APL partnered with the New York City Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit in April 2017 to field-test and evaluate a commercial Mobile Ad-hoc Networking (MANET) system.
Recent News
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News
Mar 22, 2023Training Algorithms to Sniff Out Sneaky Fentanyl Clones
Chemists and computer scientists at Johns Hopkins APL are teaming up to use machine-learning algorithms to spot fentanyl analogs — molecules designed to mimic the deadly drug’s effects while evading detection. -
News
Feb 22, 2023The Future of Uncrewed Aerial Systems Depends on Public Trust
While technological advances will play a central role in enabling commercial uncrewed aircraft systems, the successful implementation of these systems will depend more on public confidence than on any technical achievement. -
Press Release
Nov 28, 2022Johns Hopkins APL’s Dutta Reelected IEEE Communications Society Member-at-Large
Ashutosh Dutta, a senior wireless research scientist and chief 5G strategist in APL’s Asymmetric Operations Sector, has been reelected to serve as a member-at-large to the board of governors for the IEEE Communications Society, and recently received two prestigious IEEE honors.