Perimeter-security counter-drone system offers ability to detect and commandeer intruding UAVs

LONDON, 16 Sept. 2015. An English defense electronics company is touting a perimeter-security counter-drone system to defeat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that may be on terrorist or spy missions by forcing the UAVs to land before they can do damage.

Selex ES Ltd. in Basildon, Essex, is unveiling the Falcon Shield electronic warfare (EW) system this week at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEi) trade show in London. Falcon Shield is designed to detect and commandeer threatening UAVs.

The system enables its operator to detect, locate, identify, and defeat the security threat posed by low, slow and small drones, company officials say. Selex ES is a Finmeccania company.

Falcon shield relies on an electronic warfare subsystem that enables its operator to take control of intruding remotely piloted drones and land them safely, Selex ES officials say. Its primary applications are to defend sensitive installations like airports, power plants, military bases, and sports stadiums from attack and surveillance involving small UAVs.

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The Counter-Unmanned Air Vehicle (C-UAV) system provides users with a multispectral threat sensing capability and multi-layered threat response that includes a command-link control intervention capability that can help operators commandeer intruding UAVs and land them nearby.

The Falcon Shield also has the capability to jam UAV control systems or if necessary shoot them down. This multi-layered threat response can help minimize the potential for collateral damage, company officials say.

The rapid proliferation of micro/mini UAVs is a growing potential threat to national and commercial security, Selex ES officials point out. Easy to make, cheap to buy, simple to fly, and hard to detect, commercially available drones are one of the most quickly evolving technological threats to military and civilian interests.

Falcon Shield provides users with a rapidly deployable, scalable, and modular system to detect, locate, identify, and defeat potential threats using passive electro-optical and electronic surveillance sensors and radar.

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Users can complement Falcon Shield's electronic jamming capability optional kinetic effectors, company officials say.

Elements of the Selex ES Falcon Shield include the NERIO-LR long range, modular electro-optical (EO) surveillance, threat acquisition (STA) and reconnaissance system; NERIO-ULR ultra-long range, modular EO STA and reconnaissance system; Observer 100 networked surveillance; Vantage command, control & situation awareness (C2SA) application; and Horizon HD high-definition, high sensitivity medium wave infra-red (MWIR) thermal imaging camera.

For more information contact Selex ES online at www.selex-es.com.