The AUDS UAV Defense System
The rise in the number of drones in recent years has resulted in numerous security breaches and invasion of privacy as drones fly over private and restricted areas. Even though drones are incredibly useful when used in a legal, professional and ethical manner, many people are using drones for spying, making political statements and even transporting contraband and illegal items.
To effectively deal with the ever increasing drone menace, three British defense companies have developed the AUDS UAV Defense System – the world’s first integrated system that is able to identify, track and disrupt a drone that is deemed to be flying over restricted areas like military installations , airports and private property.
The AUDS UAV Defense System consists of air security radar with electronic scanning ability, daylight and infrared cameras, an electro optic director and a directional radio frequency inhibitor. All these systems work in sync to track down and neutralise drones or any other remote controlled aircraft. The system can be used from a fixed location or mounted on a mobile platform and once it has been setup, the Anti-UAV Defense System (AUDS) will use optical trackers and its radar system that uses proprietary software to detect drones and remotely controlled aircraft up to a distance of 8km. Once identified, the system will lock on to the drone and if it continues to approach the unrestricted area, the AUDS radio inhibitors will use directional antennas to send a radio signal to the drone that freezes it.
The radio signals sent is usually more powerful at than signals sent by the drone operator making the drone to pick up the AUDS signals which will momentarily freeze it as the drone will be unsure of where to fly and which commands to follow. The operator will think the drone has malfunctioned as it will either drop to the ground or hover in that same position until it runs out of battery. Additionally, the AUDS UAV Defense System has optical disrupters that will interfere with the drone’s camera system making it useless and thus the operator will be unable to tell what is going on or even successfully regain control of the drone. This anti drone system is much better and superior than all systems previously developed including one that melted drones with the use of laser.
As it is able to be operational round the clock, the AUDS will make drone users operate their drones ethically and also follow given government guidelines as failure to comply by flying over restricted areas will render the drone (which is not cheap) useless. Most drone users will not even make attempts to recover their drones for fear of getting arrested. Even though this radio jamming technology will not help authorities identify the individuals flying the drones, it ill make restricted areas like airports, restricted urban areas and even your private property safe from unauthorised drones.
The AUDS technology will however not interfere with signals from commercial and military aircrafts as they use scrambled and encrypted signals that the AUDS cannot decode. The Anti-UAV Defense System has been tested in a variety of environments and scenarios across the United Kingdom, France and United States and has proven to be an efficient and reliable anti drone system.