London : The UK is set to use sophisticated drone-jamming technology at major public and sporting events for detecting, tracking and disrupting the controls of any rogue unmanned aerial vehicles flown remotely by terrorists as airborne weapons.
According to ‘The Sunday Times’, a radar device was installed on the roof of New Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan police in London, close to Whitehall where World War commemoration event took place in early December.
The equipment, made by a consortium of British firms and a more advanced version of the kit used by some celebrities to protect their privacy, is capable of detecting, tracking and disrupting the controls of any rogue drones flown remotely by terrorists as airborne weapons, the newspaper claims.
Its deployment followed growing concern terrorists could use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) carrying explosives or radioactive material to launch an attack.
Photographs seen by the newspaper show a beige-coloured scanning device on the roof of New Scotland Yard, which two defence industry experts identified as an Anti-UAV Defence System.
It quoted security sources saying that the radar device’s deployment on Remembrance Sunday in November was a trial, and that moves are under way to bring the system into service to protect major events on a regular basis.
“The Met really liked how the trial went and it worked well with the rest of the security operation on the day,” said an official.
The portable system can spot a drone up to five miles away using electronic radar.
It uses an electro-optical camera to track the drone before jamming the radio signals that control it, forcing it to land.
The system costs about 700,000 pounds and can detect and disable a drone in less than 15 seconds.
PTI