British Trio Offer Airport Defense Against Drones
A trio of small British companies claim to have developed the world’s first integrated system to counter unauthorized UAV flights near airports. Their Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS) has been selected by the FAA for evaluation at U.S. airports, following successful initial trials by the U.S. government at the end of last year.
AUDS consists of a small Ku-band radar from Saffron Walden-based Blighter Surveillance Systems, cameras from Horsham-based Chess Dynamics, and a radio frequency (RF) inhibitor from Wappenham-based Enterprise Control Systems.
The radar can detect a drone six miles away and cue the infrared and daylight cameras to track it, before the inhibitor blocks the radio signals that control it. The whole process typically takes only 8-15 seconds.
“AUDS is able to operate in complex airport environments night and day whatever the weather, and without disrupting other airport equipment,” said Mark Radford, CEO of Blighter. “The operator can effectively take control of a drone and force a safe landing inside or outside the airport perimeter,” he continued.
AUDS can help track down the offending UAV operators and provide evidence for prosecution in the form of video footage or radar tracks.
“We believe we have a world-beating product that competes even with systems based around expensive military 3D air security radars,” said Colin Bullock, CEO of Enterprise. “And AUDS is available at commercial prices.”
Radford said that the system passed an initial set of U.S. government trials at the end of last year. It also performed well in UK-government trials last May. The three companies have been providing their respective technology to government and commercial customers for some years.
AUDS is supported and integrated in the U.S. and Canada by Liteye Systems of Centennial, Colorado, which also has a UK office in Colchester.
from : http://tinyurl.com/z3s6f32