Thales unveils EagleSHIELD solution to secure sensitive sites from malevolent UAVs
To tackle the growing threat of malevolent drone and UAVs use, Thales has developed EagleSHIELD a fully-integrated drone countermeasure solution designed to detect, locate, monitor and neutralise drones flying in civil airspace to secure sensitive sites such as airports, sports arenas, critical infrastructure and large-scale events in urban areas, Thales announced on 19 November at the Milipol security show.
In the last years, drone traffic has increased significantly in civil airspace. As these unmanned aircraft can be used for malevolent purposes, there must be appropriate countermeasures available to protect people and critical infrastructure.
According to the company, the gamekeeper holographic radar provides complete 3D airspace surveillance coverage over the 90° area, detects and monitors all types of low-altitude and medium-speed air platforms within a 7 km range.
The systems uses advanced real-time data fusion techniques to determine the exact type of unmanned aircraft involved, the radar, infrared and radiofrequency sensors improve the hazard detection and classification performance of the device.
EagleSHIELD offers operators a clear picture of the situation to protect the airspace in real-time providing the security services and armed forces with a comprehensive, cohesive vision of the airspace.
If a threat is confirmed, Thales will employ a number of technical solutions to neutralise the rogue drone, including electromagnetic signal jamming, drone swarm interception, and directed energy weapons.
“To effectively control aerial intruders everywhere you need a comprehensive approach. Thales has the solution to detect, track and identify small drones at long distances, giving our customers, both military and civilian, the information to take countermeasures at the decisive moment.” Pierre Fossier, Vice President of Thales Land and Air Systems said.
Defence Insight Analysis
With the exponential increase in availability and fast technological advances expected in the near future, drones and UAVs are a cause for concern in both military and security spheres.
Hostile UAVs now present military authorities and security services with a serious challenge.
The defence industry is investigating how best to detect and neutralise hostile UAVs, proposing options ranging from noise signature detection to lasers and jammer.
In the security field, Thales provides solutions that integrate with SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems to protect major events or critical infrastructure against small low-flying UAVs
For security services, the company uses value analysis to avoid proposing solutions that are too costly or overly sophisticated.
