Anti drone measures a growing market
The rapid increase in the use of UAS technologies has taken many countries rather aback; drone regulations vary wildly, and regulations are constantly being created and implemented. Incidents, where UAS and RPAS were being used maliciously or dangerously, have prompted several startup organisations to create measures that disrupt or even disable drones.
One such startup company is SwarmX, a Singaporean company who developed the Hive autonomous docking station, and their CEO, Pulkit Jaiswal, has advocated giving autonomy to drones before-however, in an interview with Reuters, he stated that: “There has to be a big red button where essentially the regulators are able to push, and it brings down all the drones that are not authorised or doing something that is illegal.”
His views are mirrored by another startup working specifically to eliminate drones that could be used by terrorist cells or spies, OpenWorks Engineering . This UK-based company has developed a system called SkyWall, touted as the safest method to take drones down using projectiles. It’s a shoulder-mounted cannon that fires a net at its target, aided by computerised aim, and it seems to be one of many anti-drone guns. Another such device is the DroneDefender, built by technological company Battelle, which serves a similar purpose-a hand-mounted device capable of disabling unwanted drones in a specific area. It utilises a signal that has a line-of-sight of 400m, and that disrupts GPS and remote control of its target.
The system isn’t currently available to the public, however, being restricted for use by the US government. Other anti-drone measures are in development, however, and it’s possible that countermeasures for drone users may also develop, as drone security is becoming more and more important to governments as they adapt to the fast-evolving technology of UAS and RPAS.
