What is the best way to detect and destroy drones?

In the northern Danish city of Aalborg, MyDefence manufactures equipment that jams and repels drones.

“We’ve had a huge wave of interest,” says CEO Dan Hermansen.

He says that until early October, his company dealt mainly with defense companies, but it has now “completely converted”.

The small, boxy kit made by MyDefence is mostly used by the military of NATO countries and Ukraine.

But recently demand from civilian customers has increased.

“It comes from critical infrastructure, from large corporations, looking to protect their own assets,” he adds.

The device detects the connection between the drone and its pilot, and then breaks this connection, Hermansen explains, by broadcasting a strong radio signal on the same frequency.

Instead of falling from the sky, the drone is pushed away and its landing is controlled. He adds that if it tries to reconnect with the GPS signal, that can be blocked as well.

Hermansen believes radio frequency jamming works against 80 to 90 percent of drones launched.

While forcing an unwanted drone to crash into the ground is a good outcome, it’s essential to be able to spot it first.

“The first part is about identification. The second part is an interception system,” explains Kasper Hallenborg, director of the Maersk-McKinney-Møller Institute at the University of Southern Denmark.

Andreas Gray, head of research at the Institute of Military Technology at the Danish Defense Academy, points out that identifying a drone is not easy.

“[Drones] “They can be very small or very large, and are often produced from materials such as plastic or fabrics that are difficult to detect with conventional radar.”

There are a range of technologies under constant development to help find drones.

This includes audio sensors that listen for the drone’s hum; Advanced optical cameras with very high resolution; and increasingly sophisticated tactical radars, which operate over longer ranges and can even distinguish between a drone or a bird.

Once detected, the drone must be disabled. Electronic jamming, similar to that used by MyDefence, has leapt forward, thanks in large part to the war in Ukraine.

“[Ukraine’s] The front lines are quite crowded, which means drone controllers are losing control of their devices, says Gray.

So, Russia and Orkin have adapted by using drones controlled by fiber-optic cables, or by using drones that can navigate autonomously, or fly along pre-programmed paths.

Such drones must be intercepted or shot down, and many companies are working on new ways to do this.

Among them is the Swedish startup, Nordic Air Defense. It is developing a low-cost interceptor system designed to hit a target drone, forcing it to crash.

“It’s shaped like a rocket, so it’s moving incredibly fast,” he adds. “It’s very easy to make,” says Jens Holzapfel, the company’s business director. “It’s basically 3D printed.”

Cost is a critical factor in combating drones.

Last month, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said: “It is unacceptable to shoot down drones that cost a thousand or two thousand dollars with missiles that may cost half a million or even a million dollars.”

Gray says this was a big lesson from Ukraine. “It’s become a competition about how expensive it is to launch a drone attack, and how expensive it is to defend against it.”

“As adversary drones become cheaper, it puts pressure on defenders to make lower-cost products,” Mr. Holzapfel agrees.

Low-cost drones are increasingly becoming a security issue far from the front lines in Ukraine.

Poland and Romania Their airspace has been violated By Russian drones; While separate drone incidents have been reported in Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania and more recently At Munich Airport, Germany.

In Denmark, tensions also rose after a series of mysterious sightings at airports Military installations around The country.

This prompted the Department of Defense to deploy “several capabilities” that can detect, track, and jam drones; Last week, Sweden announced plans to invest more than $365 million (£275 million) in counter-drone systems, including measures to jam and shoot them down, as well as deploying hunting drones.

Nordic Air Defense’s Mr. Holzapfel is currently working with Sweden and its European allies. In addition to the military, clients include law enforcement agencies and security companies.

But he also sees civilian sectors such as shipping, oil and marine industries as potential markets.

In a civilian environment. Simply shooting down a drone can be risky.

“It can be quite dangerous,” says Kasper Hallenborg, pointing to the falling parts and flammable fuel.

“We saw the impact in Poland,” he continues. “Those were just drone fragments, which more or less took the roof off the house.”

Hallenborg says early detection may help: “Then you can probably take her somewhere safer to do it.”

At a short distance, launching nets to entangle the drone is another method, and inexpensive lasers are also being developed.

There are also so-called safer soft kill options, including hacking. “This is a safer way to neutralize the drone, because then you can control the landing,” Gray says.

Crucially, there is a critical need for a traffic management system, Hallenborg suggests, that includes electronic license plates for each drone and a way for users to register the flight in advance.

“Then we can quickly determine which drones are allowed to be there and which ones are not,” Hallenburg says.

“the [Danish] The police were crowded with people telling them what they saw in the sky. There will probably be a lot of these drones out there with [legitimate] Purpose,” he says.