Sensors & transducers
Drone detection systems taking flight across the UK
Recently, telent and Digital Global Systems agreed a three- year contract to install the CLEARSKY Drone Threat Management system at Bristol Airport, marking the first UK deployment of the system. In this article, Paul Hicks, Head of Wireless at telent, discusses the challenges faced by airport authorities to address the growing prevalence of drones. He also outlines telent’s CLEARSKY Technology
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n light of the current coronavirus health crisis, airports would otherwise be relied upon by thousands of domestic and international
passengers every day. But as we see restrictions begin to ease, the post-pandemic booking boom could see millions of travellers still get their summer holiday fix. Airports are keeping a watchful eye out to ensure delays are kept to a minimum. In 2019, some of the UK’s biggest airports such as London Heathrow – the second busiest airport worldwide – recorded its busiest year on record with 80.9 million passengers passing through.
Airport authorities, however, now face a new challenge with the growing prevalence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones. Keeping airports secure by protecting them from unauthorised unmanned aircraft usage has become a key priority for the aviation industry as a whole and airports specifically. A drone operating in close proximity to an airport, accidentally or deliberately, is a safety hazard that requires an immediate response. But the question remains, what is the most effective way to prevent and defend against unauthorised drone usage in and around airports?
A GRoWInG RISK Drone usage has risen exponentially as UAV technology develops. To name a few, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, and Frankfurt have recently seen their airport’s airspace threatened by an unauthorised drone, further highlighting how easily the aviation network can be brought to a halt if measures are not in place. PwC estimates there will be 76,000 commercially operated drones in the UK’s skies by 2030, creating over half a million jobs in the process and injecting a £42bn increase in UK gross domestic product (GDP). One incident which can be viewed as a
lesson to learn from is the Gatwick Airport drone threat. Between 19 and 21 December 2018, Gatwick Airport, and thousands of its customers, fell victim to the highest profile drone incident to date. Drone sightings close to the runway necessitated an immediate halt to flights from the airport, affecting approximately 140,000 passengers and 1,000 flights. The cost to the airport and airlines, due to damages and loss of earnings, totalled £50m GBP after the airport was closed for 30 hours at peak Christmas travel time.
16 August 2020 Instrumentation Monthly
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