Dedrone, a provider of smart airspace security, has announced an expanded partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which provides for testing of counter-drone detection, tracking, identification and mitigation technologies to develop clearer regulations around the use of these technologies at airports.

Testing

According to the company, it was part of the first round of technologies selected for testing at Atlantic City International Airport and has now been invited to expand to a second airport (to be named at a later date) as part of the ongoing research being conducted by the FAA to make airports safer from disruptions.

“The threat of disruptions to airports and other critical infrastructure is persistent and escalating. We are honored to continue our work with the FAA to make airports safer for passengers, crew and airport staff by incorporating counter-drone technology into existing airport security apparatuses,” said Aaditya Devarakonda, CEO of Dedrone. “We look forward to further supporting the FAA at this additional airport after successful implementation at Atlantic City International Airport.”  

DedroneTracker, a sensor-fusion platform providing detection, tracking, identification (DTI) and mitigation via AI capabilities, is currently being used at both airports. By taking inputs from multiple sensors including radio frequency (RF), radar, camera and acoustics, DedroneTracker confirms a presence and determines a precise location.

Based on real-time behavior, imagery, known flight modeling and other inputs, the AI engine offers the operator a prioritized queue of targets through autonomous background interrogation while simultaneously tracking multiple friendly drones.

Protecting airports

Dedrone says that it has also been selected to work with the FAA on bringing safe mitigation technologies to airports, including the recently released DedroneDefender precision jammer. This comes equipped with narrow-band jamming to minimize disruption to other devices and meets military standard MIL-STD-810H. This use of narrow-band or “comb” jamming reduces the risk of interference with other systems in the area like Wi-Fi or radar.

The company highlights that the FAA testing is by invitation only and began in February 2022. It will continue through 30 September 2023 at a total of five airports around the US including Rickenbacker International Airport, Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville International Airport, Huntsville, Alabama; Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Syracuse, New York; and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, in addition to Atlantic City.

The FAA will use the results of the testing in its development of a plan for the certification and authorization of counter-drone detection and mitigation systems in the National Airspace System (NAS) including at airports around the country.