Technology gives rise to new challenges. This is especially true for law enforcement, where modern criminals are using advanced and disruptive technology, it becomes imperative to fight them back with Isaac Newton’s third law, an equal and opposite reaction to any action.
This blog observes how anti-drone systems can be used by the police to fight aggressors.
What is an Anti-drone System?
An anti-drone system follows through the steps of search, detection, tracking and neutralization, in a real-time context as a response to drones.
An unmanned drone can be a threat in the hands of perpetrators, such as surveillance of private properties or even posing as a distraction to draw attention off from the real threat. Drones can also be weaponized, leading to possible acts of terrorism.
Thus, systems to detect and neutralize these drones or anti-drone systems have become significant for law enforcement.
Types of Anti-drone Systems
Anti-drone systems come in different shapes, such as stationary systems, handheld systems, anti-drone radars, detectors, jammers, cameras and more.
However, to meet law enforcement needs, only evaluating stationary and handheld anti-drone systems can be sufficient. The following sections will delve deeper into why this is true.
Stationary Anti-drone Systems
A stationary anti-drone system is generally a ground-based system occupying a specific spot. Such a system is designed to track and neutralize unauthorized drone activities.
A stationary anti-drone system uses technologies like RADAR or SONAR to detect long-distance drones and uses smart jamming or adjacent technologies to disrupt the drones. These and the 360-degree coverage capabilities make a stationary system a suitable anti-drone system for police.
The police can use these systems for the security of police precincts, scoping out a possible threat area or even detecting and eliminating weaponized drones.
Handheld Anti-drone Systems
Handheld anti-drone solutions are most suited to handling small-sized consumer drones. Handheld systems are lightweight and mobile, used for countering illegal drone activity and the protection of important or sensitive areas.
The mobility of the handheld anti-drone device makes it a preferred anti-drone system for law enforcement. This is especially effective against low-altitude drones, which can be disabled simply by aiming and blasting electromagnetic noise. This device can also be used effectively while in motion, making it increasingly effective at its purpose.
How Can Anti-drone Systems Benefit Law Enforcement?
The different uses of anti-drone systems, as discussed in the previous section can give a brief outline on how anti-drone systems can benefit law enforcement. Here, however, a more detailed investigation can be performed to create an information base enhancing practical impacts.
Area-of-effect Drone Detection
Area-of-effect drone detection can be performed with the help of RADAR technologies for flying drones and SONAR for underwater detections. So, how does the RADAR detection work? RADAR uses radio waves to detect, locate and track objects by transmitting signals and detecting the source of the reflection.
SONAR detection, on the other hand, uses sound waves that can bounce off underwater objects. The exact bouncing-off point of the echoes can pinpoint the locations of the objects hiding underwater.
Stationary anti-drone systems use these detection techniques to locate unauthorized drones and neutralize them. These enhanced detection capacities help in mitigating the threats posed by drones in time. Therefore, these enhance the capabilities of the police, making such a system an invaluable anti-drone system for law enforcement.
Electromagnetic Noise to Disable Active Drone Threats
Electromagnetic noise acts as an invisible blast of energy. In an almost sci-fi capability, anti-drone devices can emit a blast of electromagnetic energy, which, while invisible to the human eye, can neutralize aerial drones.
A handheld anti-drone device can emit such an energy blast, which, when combined with the handgun training of the police force, can detect and eliminate drones effectively and with accuracy. The mobility, combined with the ease of use in the hands of the police, makes handheld devices a reliable anti-drone system for police.
Anti-drone Technologies Supporting Active Law Enforcement
With time, different technologies have been developed to raise the efficacy of the anti-drone systems. Here, two such technologies will be highlighted with the value they add to the devices.
Software-defined Frequency Jammers
The software-defined frequency jammers are used in the jamming units of anti-drone systems such as the ND-BD004. The software source can help customize the jamming frequency configuration, allowing for revision of the capture bandwidth as needed.
This system can be installed in stationary drone detection systems as well as handheld anti-drone devices, leading to the ease-of-access that effectively supports law enforcement.
3D-pulse Doppler Radar to Detect Long-distance Drones
The 3D-pulse Doppler radar, a technology used in the ND-BU002 high-end anti-drone system, can greatly increase the threat-detection range of stationary anti-drone units. This radar system can provide accurate drone position information by mapping both vertical and horizontal angles of the drone.
The 3D-pulse Doppler system can also help anti-drone systems scan low-altitude drones as well as grounded drones, enhancing the drone-detection capacity of law enforcement.
Final inputs
Anti-drone detection systems use detection and neutralization technologies effectively to minimize the threat of unauthorized drones, both surveillance and weaponized. Using technological development such as software-defined frequency jammers and 3D-pulse Doppler radar, stationary and handheld anti-drone units can effectively aid law enforcement tackle high-tech disruptors.
