After troublesome drones infiltrated London’s Gatwick airport late last year, disrupting passenger flights and costing potentially millions of pounds in revenue, that was the instinctive question posed by the watching world.
“Laws will not stop drones; only technology will,” said Joerg Lamprecht, chief executive officer and co-founder of Dedrone Holdings Inc, a company that specialises in drone detection. “The race is on; the future is unmanned; and we’ve got to be staying in charge and in control.” Drones are becoming cheaper, increasingly accessible and more frequently used in business.
Drones designed for racing are even more nimble. Their top speeds can reach into the triple digits; they can change direction instantly and have a dangerous tendency to fall out of the sky when their operator signal is cut. “It’s a large issue, and not just for airports, but for everybody that shares airspace above their head,” said Jim Hall, who is a former chairman at the National Transportation Safety Board.
OpenWorks says it has deployed hundreds of its devices. DroneShield, which went public in 2016 and trades on the Australian Stock Exchange, signed an accord with STC Specialized, an arm of the Saudi Telecom Company, in March, to cooperate on sales opportunities. These technologies have to be carefully applied, and not just used at will. Drones are considered aircraft under US federal law – and just like regular aircraft, it’s illegal for citizens to sabotage or destroy them.
But make sure no aeroplane around