Falcon Shield Mounts Multi-Sensor Drone Defense

Despite what some police agencies think, using eagles to capture UAVs may not be the most effective anti-drone solution. However, an Italian aerospace firm’s latest idea may become the gold standard in the rapidly growing drone-protection industry.

Finmeccanica recently began marketing Falcon Shield, a suite of sensors and software designed to find, track, and disable or take over unauthorized drones.

According to Finmeccanica manager Steve Williams, Falcon Shield utilizes radar, infrared tracking sensors, an electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera and acoustic sensors to identify and track drones flying in restricted airspace. A “non-kinetic electronic attack capability” places control of the errant drone in the hands of a Falcon Shield operator. “This electronic attack capability lets Falcon Shield defeat the threat without interfering with surrounding, friendly systems like people using cell phones or police radios,” Williams said.

Since the system is scalable and modular, Finmeccanica hopes to market Falcon Shield to public-safety agencies since it can be set up to protect specified areas, such as the Super Bowl or Times Square and can handle facilities as large as nuclear power plants or airports.

Williams says the company is in discussion with the U.S. Department of Defense as a possible new client. “The demand actually is across the entire sphere of those areas because actually, be it a deployed operating base, let’s say in the Far East, or an airport in Washington, they have the exact same problem,” Williams state din a recent interview with Defense News. “I think the interest spans all the areas with equal measure at the moment and we’re getting interest from all of those areas.”

The nascent anti-drone industry has launched several new solutions for those who prefer a drone-free airspace — from specialized rifles to robotic net-drones to “drone death rays.”

Finmeccanica Falcon Shield Selex ES