Drones are only going to become more common. From small, 2 lb recreational drones, to wide 33 lb commercial and public service drones, to large military drones weighing over 1000 pounds, drones will continue to fill our skies.
The trouble is, even with small drones, it’s not always possible to immediately tell the difference between a friendly, law-abiding drone and a nefarious drone. When mystery drones appear, the following questions should be answered quickly:
- Is it just your harmless UAV hobbyist neighbor flying a drone above your backyard or is it someone attempting to spy on you?
- Is that drone on a simple flight to capture some beautiful aerial photography of the cityscape or on its way to disrupting the nearby college football game?
- Is that drone flying around a particular power plant being operated by a certified power plant inspector for good and legal purposes or is it being operated by a budding DVE (domestic violent extremist)?
- Is that drone carrying a large package delivering emergency medical supplies to an individual in need or delivering an explosive payload to a vulnerable target?
For safety, drones need to be identified—quickly.
The vast majority of drones flying into uncertain or prohibited air space do so without any malicious intent. Their operators, just looking to have fun or get some simple work done, fall into the “careless and clueless” category rather than the “criminal”. A brief conversation with the operator, either with one of their neighbors or with a law enforcement officer, will inform them of the legal restrictions they are violating and resolve the issue quickly.
But those with criminal intent will want to be mistaken for “careless and clueless”. They only need to ride the benefit of the doubt for a little while to get close enough to their intended target.
How Does the Remote Drone ID™ (RDID) Identify Drones?
The FAA requires that every drone in the United States broadcast a unique id signature while in flight. Each remote ID signature is unique to the drone and serves the same purpose as a license plate on a registered motor vehicle.
The Remote Drone ID (RDID) detects these unique signatures and uses them to identify drones and track their movement. And because this unique id signature is used in the communication between the drone and the drone operator, the Remote Drone ID can capture that information, and provide constant, live updates on the location of both the drone and the drone pilot.
This makes Spotter Global’s RDID sensor an efficient, mobile solution for automatically identifying and tracking mystery drones. With a range that extends more than 750m in all directions and an overall coverage zone of more than 436 acres, the RDID constantly monitors the surrounding airspace for the relevant broadcast signals, reporting on drone activity in the area with no false alarms with regards to FAA-compliant drone activity.
Any drone sighted (or otherwise detected, for example by a Spotter Global AX250 radar capable of detecting dark drones) in a designated area that does not show up on the RDID interface, can automatically be classified as a potential threat because it is not following FAA requirements. As the remote id is built-in to all commercial drones, only those with criminal intent would bother to disable it. This may prompt a more urgent counter-drone response.
A Few Use-Case Scenarios for the Remote Drone ID
Power Substation:
A careless and clueless operator wants to take video footage of a local substation and the surrounding area, or worse, a criminal operator wants to drape a thin copper conductor across sensitive electrical systems to cause a blackout in the grid. A drone is detected a few hundred meters north of the substation, whereupon a notification is immediately sent to security personnel. The pilot location is immediately detected as soon as the drone is started. Live tracking updates are sent to security personnel. As soon as the drone crosses the customer-designated alarm zone line, an alarm sounds from within the substation, prompting the drone operator to turn his drone around. Security personnel are immediately dispatched, arrive on the scene a few minutes later, and proceed directly to the pilot location.
College Sporting Event:
A college student, hoping to capture live footage of the celebrity pre-game performance, flies a drone over the field towards the stage. As soon as the drone takes off, security personnel are notified and proceed directly to the location of the pilot to order him to land the drone.
Private Residence:
A drone is detected approaching a private residence. As soon as the drone is detected within the predesignated alarm zone limits, a warning system prompts all family members and visitors to head inside. When the drone arrives to hover above the residence, it can capture no footage of anyone on the lawn, in the outdoor pool, on any balconies, or anywhere else outside. It quickly retreats to the drone pilot who flees the scene in their vehicle. Security personnel are able to use the drone pilot’s previous known locations in conjunction with local surveillance cameras to obtain the physical description and license plate number of the pilot.
On-Location Film Production:
Paparazzi and others are constantly looking to get photos and steal intellectual property from movie production sets. Many studios have implemented quick reaction protocols for when drones are detected in the vicinity to cover or hide sensitive IP. Studios regularly train the production crew on the Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) for drone detection and response and conduct drills to ensure everyone knows their role and can act quickly to protect sensitive information. With RDID on-site, these SOPs can be enacted faster, especially if the NIO is set up to sound an alarm once any drone activity is detected. SOPs may also include dispatching local authorities to the location of the drone operator to take whatever legal options are available.
Logan Harris, Spotter Global President and Founder says:
“Drones are an increasing security concern for many commercial and industrial sites. Unwelcome drone activity can interrupt vital operations, invade privacy, perpetuate cyber attacks, and cause substantial structural damage to critical infrastructure sites, high net worth private properties, data centers, and other locations. Remote Drone ID is a good entry point solution for those who need to know about drone activity around their sites but are not quite ready to make the larger investment required for a Radar Counter Drone System. We are pleased now to be able to offer a lower cost alternative that will detect the vast majority of drones produced after Sept 2022 with a zero false alarm rate.”