The first part of DroneShield’s “Detect. Assess. Respond,” system requires good drone detection – and a new partnership with Zenith AeroTech offers a better way to do it, by putting drone detection equipment on a tethered drone.“By putting a detection capability on a TAV, which typically flies at 400 feet, you get better range than if you were to have these systems on a pole or ground vehicle,” said Kutlay Kaya, CEO of Zenith Aerotech. “Also, your alerts will be more accurate because, at elevation, you’ve eliminated clutter.” Zenith AeroTech will incorporate DroneShield’s DroneSentry-C2TM command-and-control ecosystem into its family of tethered UAVs (TAVs,) along with an Echodyne EchoFlight radar, to counter drone or drone swarm attacks.
The Zenith tethered drones can fly for hours or days at a time: Zenith’s “Ground Power-Tether Management System” converts 120- or 240- volt AC power from a generator or other source into high-voltage DC power. “In addition to a capable drone-detection solution, the company will be offering DroneShield’s and soft kill measures, to be used by personnel on the ground,” says a ZenithAeroTech and DroneShield statement. “Because we detect inbound drones from further away, we give personnel on the ground more time to jam them,” Kaya said.
The new partnership sees a large potential market for tethered drones equipped with counter-drone capabilities. “The military could use them to protect forward operating bases; civilian security managers might have them fly over sensitive facilities; and law enforcement could use them to safeguard well-attended public events,” says the statement.
“We are already working with a couple of federal agencies, and we anticipate broader adoption of this solution,” Kaya said.
DroneShield’s CEO Oleg Vornik commented, “DroneShield’s deployment with Zenith takes our cutting edge command-and-control ecosystem capabilities into the tethered drone domain, opening a new range of applications for our Government end-users.”
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
Subscribe to DroneLife here.