Drones and the Royal Wedding

This weekend’s big news was the British Royal Wedding – and drones played their part in the festivities.

The Royal Wedding was a major event (multiple events) requiring major security.  Not only did the royal family appear en masse, but the guest list was loaded with celebrity names all worthy of their own security detail.  Wedding crashers of the ordinary type were a minor concern compared to the potential of a terrorist threat

 

There was a no-fly zone over the event, of course, to keep drones out of the area.  But as law-abiding drone operators know, a no-fly zone is no guarantee that a determined rogue operator won’t make an attempt.   “This kind of measure is put in place to ensure the safety of the attendees, and to limit the threat posed by drones,” says Ben Duke of COPTRZ, a leading supplier of specialty services to the commercial drone market in the U.K., “but it doesn’t prevent it.”

That’s why drone detection systems are such big business.  Some analysts estimate that the drone defense systems market will be worth billions in the next 5 years.  The world’s biggest drone manufacturer, DJI, entered the field last year with Aeroscope.  Regardless of varying opinions on manufacturers entering the space, DJI has the design, manufacturing and distribution power to create a standard.

“DJI’s recently released Aeroscope is ground-breaking technology,” writes Duke. “It’s a purpose-built drone detection system that allows the operator to track telemetry data from DJI aircraft in surrounding airspace within a radius of up to 20km. It’s in effect, a drone license plate detection system, as well as a data provider.”

While they can’t say that these units were the ones used at the event,  COPTRZ  supplied a number of units to law enforcement agencies, and made the technology available to the agencies responsible for providing the security at the Royal Wedding.

The Aeroscope will be used by the law enforcement agencies to protect high profile events. “Particularly following the recent Royal Wedding’s no-fly-zone, Aeroscope is a useful tool to ensure that drones in the air near the zone are monitored and if needed are intercepted to ensure the security of the wedding attendees and the royal family alike,” writes Duke.

Steve Coulson, Managing Director and Founder of COPTRZ has commented on the deal: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to supply drone detection systems to law enforcement agencies. Particularly with big events such as the Royal Wedding and the upcoming World Cup, it’s imperative agencies take advantage of the technology available to them. It’s only a matter of time until technology like the Aeroscope become a necessity for law enforcement agencies worldwide.”