An Unmanned Aerial System, or UAS, is defined as any unmanned aircraft plus any ground-based controller or system of communications equipment to control it remotely; more commonly called a drone. Consumer drones are becoming increasingly popular and are primarily used for recreation, but they also present an increasing threat to our infrastructure, national security, as well as our individual privacy. Drones are a relatively new phenomenon but have already been making memorable headlines.
In December 2018, hundreds of flights were cancelled at Gatwick Airport following reports of drone sightings close to the runway. 140,000 passengers and 1,000 flights were affected, making it the largest disruption at the airport since its closure following the volcano eruptions in Iceland in 2010. While no culprit was found, drones pose a very real and evolving threat that needs to be countered.
More recently in 2020, Harry and Meghan, the Duke & Duchess of Sussex reported multiple drone flybys to the Los Angeles Police Department. The drones were being used to illegally take photographs of their son Archie, getting as close as 20 feet above their home.The level of threat that drones pose is often related to the operator and can be summarised as:
- The Hobbyist: who might fly over sensitive airspace by mistake.
- The Maverick: someone intent on disruption but not on causing actual damage.
- The Terrorist: with the purpose of causing malicious damage and harm, likely to be pre-programmed.
As you would expect, the higher the threat level, the harder it is to detect and act against the device due to the drone potentially flying autonomously and with the added risk of the onboard payload looking to cause real harm, such as explosives. Drone technology is a fast-paced and rapidly expanding industry. Drones are readily available to the public and have already evolved considerably in terms of sophistication without much government regulation until recently, making the ever-increasing threat they pose extremely challenging to keep up with.
However, the engineering world is responding quickly with governmental interest in this area also growing – particularly to protect airports that are vulnerable to flight disruption caused by security threats. The recent Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft (ATMUA) Bill stated that the police would have new powers (e.g. the power to request a remote pilot to land a drone) and be able to take action against drones being flown illegally, including the use of counter drone technology. This is a very positive step towards Counter UAS keeping up with drone development.
Overview supplies advanced remote, autonomous sensor solutions and motion systems to a global customer base of systems integrators across the surveillance, defence and commercial sectors. This knowledge and experience combined with the high agility and low latency of our products means we are perfectly placed to play a key part in combatting the real and very dangerous threat that drones pose as they become more capable, accessible and intelligent.
But it’s no easy task. As drones become more sophisticated, so also must the solutions designed to protect against them. Counter drone technology is lagging behind drone development and so it is critical that technical experts share their research and technologies to help protect organisations against disruption and damage.
Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) are not the only challenges that airports face. Often, airports have large and exposed perimeters which offer an intrusion threat. While drone threats tend to be airborne and perimeter threats ground-based, there are distinct similarities. Traditionally, independent security and surveillance solutions are employed to address C-UAS and PIDS (Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems) with the associated duplication in cost, power and networking. Overview is currently the lead partner in an 18-month NATEP/Innovate UK project working with other leading technology partners to explore this area.
The ambitious NATEP project aims to develop and demonstrate a sophisticated, highly autonomous AI-enabled system that will analyse sensor data from low power, agile sensor solutions, which will then detect, classify, and track ground and air perimeter intrusions – all at a low false alarm rate. This represents ground-breaking technology and a huge leap forward in anti-drone and PID solutions.
So, what does the future hold for drones and CUAS? Drone development shows no sign of slowing down and while they can pose a significant threat, drones are also becoming increasingly used for military applications such as reconnaissance. Hopefully with support and investment from the Government in projects such as the NATEP/ Innovate UK one, this collaborative approach will serve to narrow the gap between drone technology and the security systems available to monitor and control where they fly.
If you want to know more about this project or Overview’s business, ring us on +44 (0)20 8875 0984 or email info@overview.co.uk
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