Australian Firm Releases Wearable Drone Detector

Australian counter-drone firm DroneShield has released a wearable UAV detection product that weighs just over 2 pounds.

RfPatrol is designed for use by military, law enforcement, security and VIP customers. Since it doesn’t emit jamming signals, it’s legal in more jurisdictions than many other counter-UAS products.

Rogue drones present a unique threat to military and other security personnel in a myriad of battle scenarios – especially from aircraft launched by terrorist groups such as ISIS. In addition, hostile drones can threaten key infrastructure assets – such as oil pipelines, creating international incidents.

“Due to its miniaturized, body-worn nature, substantially larger customer [market share] due to its non-emitting nature, and a relatively lower price point compared to fixed site products, we expect it to have substantial appeal. In addition to being able to be used as a stand-alone, it is a perfect companion to our DroneGun product,” DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik said.

The RfPatrol can be operated in “stealth” or “glimpse” modes, allowing users to control how they receive alerts. Users get feedback via haptic, visual and audio components.

The device is supported by DroneShield Link, a system allowing operators to maintain updated databases in a changing threat environment.

The device has a detection range of just over a half mile – line-of-sight and omni-directional and can detect a drone on a known frequency in less than five second.

DroneShield’s other products include:

• DroneSentinel: a multi-prone detection product designed to locate rogue drones. The solution is aimed at customers unable to deploy jamming because of regulatory or operational restrictions.
• DroneSentry: A solution that detects and neutralizes unmanned aerial bandits using jamming technology. The product is geared toward foreign clients – the product has not been authorized by the FCC and may not be sold or leased in the U.S. because it jams radio signals.

In December, DroneShield received an order from an unnamed Central American security agency for the two cornerstone products following a purported assassination attempt in August against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.