Homeland Security Specific Target Market
At Security and Counterterror (SCTX 2017) in London this week, camera and optical systems specialist Silent Sentinel is showcasing a joint development with radar manufacturer Kelvin Hughes aimed at detecting hostile drones in security environments.
At SCTX 2016 there were perhaps three companies offering such a service: A year later, as one observer put it to Mönch, “the world and his aunt are here showing drone detection solutions.” That may be hyperbole – but we counted fully a dozen such offerings on day one at the Olympia venue.
The Silent Sentinel/Kelvin Hughes approach is not untypical. Blending the capabilities of optical and radar detection widens the potential ‘capture basket’ and speaks to the growing aspiration on the part of operators for a multi-layered approach to detection, localisation and eventual neutralisation. In the latter respect a series of RF jammers can be integrated into the system in order to disrupt the drone control signals, forcing it to land, crash or return to base.
“We can detect and identify a PHANTOM-sized drone well beyond 750-1,000m and slave high resolution cameras to the appropriate vector for detailed observation,” James Longcroft, Business Development Director for Silent Sentinel, told Mönch. “This is a brand new application for us but we have already generated significant interest and are targeting the homeland security/defence market in the first instance.”
More about Kelvin Hughes’ new drone detection capability via its SMS-D (Single Mast Solution – Drone), which is the company’s first integrated, medium-range, radar-based surveillance system designed for the detection and tracking of small aerial targets, here.
