Aveillant, a British radar technology company, has announced the first airport installation of its Gamekeeper drone detection radar as part of the Hologarde system.
Aveillant, a radar technology company based in Cambridge, England, has announced the first airport installation of its Gamekeeper drone detection radar. The installation at Charles de Gaulle, Paris comes after successful demonstrations of the system at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport.
Working with DSNA Services, a subsidiary of the French Civil Aviation Authority, and Groupe ADP, operator of the three international airports in Paris, Gamekeeper will be a key component of DSNA Service’s Hologarde, a comprehensive counter-drone solution.
Aveillant’s Gamekeeper holographic radar is an innovative 3D radar, with the proven ability to detect and track small (0.01m2) drones at distances up to 5 km. The software developed for this radar analyses the movement signature of the target, in order to differentiate it against other objects in its range (like planes, helicopters, drones, and even birds). The system is already operational in Monaco and Singapore.
Other partners in the Hologarde project are Cerbair (a specialist in anti-drone solutions based on radio frequency and optical sensors), Exavision (high-end optronic systems) and InnovATM (solutions aimed at optimizing air traffic management as well as airport resources using artificial intelligence algorithms).
Aveillant underlines the growing risk that commercial drones pose to aircraft. The UK Airprox Board, which monitors reported near misses with aircraft, recorded 70 drone-related incidents in 2016, more than double the number in the previous year. Figures up to May 2017 suggest this will rise again. An incident on 2nd July at Gatwick airport caused the runway to be closed, with the diversion of five flights.