[Peetwo]

 Carmody & the rise of the drones Part II - The French connection.

From a French perspective, the following was forwarded to me from our friendly Frog Oceankoto...

Via Le Point translated:

Drones: the hunt is open

By Thierry Hale

Published on  20/11/2016 at 17:14 

Following the series of overflights by nuclear power plant drones and other sensitive sites in 2014, the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN) raised the alarm and launched a call for projects to detect , Identify and neutralize these devices.  In short, it is feared that terrorists will use drones knowing that the payload or transportable load is about one-third of the weight of the aircraft.  In France , 4000 professional drones are identified and recreation rig fleet is estimated at 400,000.

On drones of leisure, this load transported is usually a camera or a camera.  So, last week, a drone flew away with the National Assembly , arrived in the axis of the Concorde bridge by which he left without being identified.  But a 1.5 kg drone can also carry a gridded grenade, dropped in the stands of a stadium or in the middle of a gathering of people. The NSDSS drone program is called "flash" because Launched in an emergency.  It receives the assistance of the National Research Agency (ANR) and a million euros have been released, distributed among the three finalists out of twenty-four candidates who responded to the call for projects.

The three consortia chosen - Angelas, Bordeades and Spid - combine the know-how of a score of SMEs specializing in defense and signal analysis technologies, universities and grandes écoles, as well as large groups such as Onera, Thales , CEA.  Future "clients" of these applications, such as EDF , the SNCF , the GIGN, the Aéroports de Lyon, etc., are also associated with the operation. On a disused track of the Villacoublay airbase near Paris, drones wheeling chest last Friday and had to be neutralized in turn by the three anti-drone solutions.  First observation, despite the unfavorable weather conditions with strong wind in gusts, drones do not seem affected and fly without problem.  One can think that the best pilots guide them.  These drones are devices that are found in the trade, like the Parrot Disco.  SNCF has also detached for the occasion one of its ten drones who monitor the rail network and try to detect the attempted theft of copper cables.

Neutralization without destruction

The operation must take place in three acts, but without intermission, in a few tens of seconds.  Identification must follow detection immediately.  The challenge is to say whether the echo raised by the radar or by the listening system is a drone, a bird, a parasite due to the rustle of the leaves, or even an airplane that passes off at high altitude .  The unauthorized drone having been formally identified, which generally requires the intervention of a human operator, it is necessary to analyze its mode of operation.  Does a ground-based remote pilot direct it in real time?  Does the drone use a GPS to guide itself?  Is it completely autonomous, having been preprogrammed?  At each configuration, a different solution must be taken, knowing that the SGDSN excludes in a civilian context destruction, as is the case in a military context.  So no microwave cannon.

 According to the consortia, the neutralization can take place by taking control of the drone to have it installed where it is desired, by a decoy that deviates its trajectory from its initial target, by a goniometric survey of the emissions of the telepilot to the ground which Will be visited by the gendarmerie.  But very quickly technology comes up against a legal vacuum.  Blurring GPS signals or sending erroneous data is formally prohibited, as this would be detrimental to many users.  In caricature, an airplane that wants to land at Roissy-CDG risks, at best, to land at Le Bourget.  As for the EDF network, it can experience load losses and overvoltages, the power stations being synchronized with each other by GPS, to provide a precise time to ten nanoseconds.  On the budget side, we speak in millions of euros, even if Spid wants to try to limit itself to 800,000 euros.

If the demonstrations carried out in Villacoublay have shown a certain efficiency at a short distance of about 2,000 meters, which may correspond to the protection needs of a nuclear power plant, a stadium or an event, the tests Are not conclusive for the protection of airports.  A circle of about ten kilometers must be sterile, covering in particular the landing axes of the instruments and take-off with the initial rise in altitude.

 The Air Force, which does not have time to wait for these high-tech developments, has acquired royal eagles as part of the anti-drones fight.  Born in the spring, the four raptors are raised on the air base of Mont-de-Marsan and find their food ... in drone wrecks.

 Along the same lines I note that there was a recent addition to the Senate submissions for the UAV inquiry (Regulatory requirements that impact on the safe use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems and associated systems. ), where a company called 'Nitestar Security Group' is offering their expert services to CASA to help police rogue drone operators: 3 Nitestar Security Group (PDF 83 KB)

Perhaps Wingnut should seriously consider what the NSG have to offer...


MTF...P2

Ps TY OK chocfrog (oops) choc Bilby is in the mail...