MILITARY TRACKERS TO NAB DRONE OPERATORS AT GATWICK - The State Post

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Tuesday, July 7, 2020

MILITARY TRACKERS TO NAB DRONE OPERATORS AT GATWICK

By Foluso Adelaja

Operators of unmanned drones lately inflicting untold damages on operations at Gatwick Airport can now be apprehended without delay with the aid of a new device employed to stem the onslaught of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (U.A.V.).


Incessant attacks of malicious drones at the airport have forced its authority to install the device to thwart operations of illegal unmanned aerial vehicles.

After some 1,000 flights were grounded due to these UAV illegal operations, the airport spent over one million pounds on a military-grade system to intercept these rogue operators.

According to a recent publication of The Times of London, radar, radio frequency and optical detection systems were installed to combat the drone disturbance.
The core function of the Auds anti UAV system made by Chess Dynamics is not only to combat the drones but also to help track down the operator of any drone.

The system works through about ten networked sensors around the airport and a control center inside the facility.

Electro-Optical trackers featuring long range color cameras and high sensitivity color imagers capture visual data while radar and video frequency sensors are also used in the war against the drones.

The sophisticated network of gadgets employed against these unmanned drones is presently manned but an upgrade that will automate the detection of drones is already in the offing.

The Auds system has the capability to jam a drone’s radio frequency in the bid to deter it from functioning.
According to the Chief Executive of Chess Dynamics, the maker of the detection system, “if we know what the drone is doing, where it comes from, we can follow it back because the operator is communicating with the drone. It’s a two-way communication, you can detect both ends. You can make a forensic analysis…to determine a probable control site and launch site.”

The British Government has recently published a Counter Drone Strategy which described the Gatwick disruption as a risk to the public as hundreds of thousands of people had their travels disrupted with tens of millions of pounds in economic damage.

Government is also liaising presently with the industry on improving geo-fencing capabilities that restrict commercially available drones from flying in certain areas.                           

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