Protecting critical national infrastructure and countering the threat of drone attacks, in all conditions
The challenge
Drones have created a new threat to critical national infrastructure, with the potential to cause significant operational disruption and reputational damage. Their impact was demonstrated in the unprecedented three-day shut down of London's Gatwick airport in 2019, after reported sightings of drones. The policing bill alone reached £459,000, and over 1,000 flights and 140,000 passengers were disrupted.
Drones also pose a serious security problem for oil and gas, nuclear power and utility sites, which can be vulnerable to threats from both activists and terrorist activity. In the same year as the incident at Gatwick Airport, two Saudi Aramco plants — an oil processing facility and an oil field — were targeted using drones. Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, which cut 5.7 million barrels per day of Saudi crude output, over 5% of the world's supply.
To counter this challenge, we are developing a fully automated, high performance, radar-based wide-area drone detection solution. The solution will be capable of continuously monitoring your site: automatically detecting and tracking drones in real-time, in all weather conditions.
How will it work?
The new solution builds on the trusted performance of our AdvanceGuard wide-area surveillance technology. Navtech's intelligent software is key to AdvanceGuard's market-leading low false alarm rate. This is uniquely combined with EchoDyne's Metamaterials Electronic Scanned Array (MESA) flat panel radar to deliver a high performance and reliable drone detection solution that will operate in all conditions and can be configured to meet the requirements of the most complex of sites.
The new AdvanceGuard solution has already been trialled at our premises in Oxfordshire, UK and is a CPNI rated product.
Based on initial trials and known performance of the technologies, we expect the resulting drone detection solution to be capable of rapidly detecting a drone, up to a range of one kilometre, in all directions. The system is scalable and can be networked to provide coverage for any site.
The solution will track drones across your site in real-time so you have full situational awareness, at all times. Virtual alarm zones and long-range detection mean the solution is able to detect both inside and outside of the perimeter to provide advanced warning of drone intrusions. Using existing AdvanceGuard technology, the system will automatically direct cameras for quick visual verification. It will also report the height of a drone and generate reports of tracking data for post-event forensics, to help improve the security of your site over time.
The solution includes all the other advantages of AdvanceGuard such as easy integration with your existing VMS or PSIM system and a user-friendly interface. The drone detection solution can be combined with our patented AdvanceGuard FMCW, 360°, long-range radars for complete ground to air wide-area surveillance. It means security operators can track people, vehicles and drones on one simple user interface, offering you the peace of mind that you are fully aware of all activity on your site.
Continuous monitoring and real-time tracking of drones
Long-range detection for cost-effective implementation
High performance in all weather and light conditions
A fully automated solution you can rely on
The solution continuously detects and tracks drones in real-time, while automatically directing cameras for visual verification.
Expected technical performance
What performance can you expect from this new solution? The Navtech drone detection solution, will detect and track unlimited drones in the range of the solution, in all weather and light conditions — including in complete darkness. Using virtual alarm zones, it will detect both inside and outside the perimeter of your site, to provide advanced warning.
Rapidly alerts operator on user-friendly interface
Detects Inspire ll drones up to 1km
Detects Phantom 4 drones up to 900m
Provides coverage from 120° to a full dome
Works in all weather and light conditions
Preliminary trials of Navtech's AdvanceGuard drone detection solution.
Why the EchoDyne MESA radar?
The patented EchoDyne MESA radar offers unprecedented size, weight and power advantages over traditional ESA radar. Its compact design means it can be easily deployed and by using radar as a detection capability, the solution will be unaffected by weather or light conditions.
About AdvanceGuard
AdvanceGuard provides a reliable, cost-effective solution that provides continuous wide-area surveillance in all weather and lighting conditions. For large complex sites, AdvanceGuard provides the most comprehensive and accurate, fully automated security surveillance system available, with market-leading low false alarm rates.
"If you are looking for a wide-area surveillance solution that works in all conditions, to detect small unmanned aerial vehicles in real-time across your security site, please get in touch to discuss how our intelligent drone detection solution can help to meet your needs."
We are now looking for partners willing to work with us to carry out proof of concept trials for specific applications including airports, oil and gas sites, and other critical national infrastructure security.
As an early adopter of this technology, you will have the opportunity to influence the development of the solution for your application, prior to its formal launch. With experienced software, research and development, and commissioning teams at Navtech Radar, you can be assured we will work with you to meet your requirements.
Contact us to discuss the opportunity to trial this new technology.
