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In Aalborg, a northern Danish city, the firm MyDefence specializes in the production of drone jamming and repellent technology.
“We’ve experienced a significant surge in interest,” states Dan Hermansen, the company’s chief executive.
According to Hermansen, MyDefence primarily engaged with defense firms until early October, but now the company’s focus has “completely shifted”.
The compact, box-like device manufactured by MyDefence is primarily utilized by the military forces of NATO countries and Ukraine.
Recently, however, there has been growing demand from civilian clients.
“The demand is coming from critical infrastructure sectors,” he elaborates, “from large corporations seeking to protect their own assets.”
Mr. Hermansen explains that the device identifies communication between the drone and its operator, subsequently disrupting this connection by emitting a potent radio signal on the same frequency.
Rather than plummeting from the sky, the drone is redirected and undergoes a controlled landing. He further adds that if the drone attempts to re-establish a GPS signal, that connection can also be blocked.
Mr. Hermansen estimates that radio frequency jamming is effective against 80 to 90% of drones in operation.
While causing an unwanted drone to crash land is a positive outcome, the ability to detect the drone initially is paramount.
“The initial step involves identification, followed by the deployment of an interceptor system,” explains Kasper Hallenborg, director of The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute at the University of Southern Denmark.
Andreas Graae, head of research at the Institute of Military Technology at the Danish Defence Academy, points out that identifying a drone is not a simple task.
“[Drones] can range from very small to quite large, and are often made from materials such as plastic or fabrics that are difficult to detect with traditional radar systems,” he says.
A range of technologies are continuously being developed to aid in drone detection.
These technologies include acoustic sensors that listen for the drone’s buzzing sound, advanced optical cameras with very high resolution, and increasingly sophisticated tactical radars that operate over longer distances and can even distinguish between a drone and a bird.
Once a drone is detected, it needs to be disabled. Electronic jamming, similar to that employed by MyDefence, has advanced significantly, largely due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“[Ukraine’s] frontlines are heavily jammed,” Mr. Graae notes, resulting in drone operators losing control of their devices.
Consequently, Russia and Ukraine have adapted by utilizing drones controlled via fiber optic cables, or drones that can navigate autonomously or fly along pre-programmed routes.
Such drones need to be intercepted or shot down, and numerous firms are developing innovative methods to achieve this.
Among these is the Swedish start-up, Nordic Air Defence, which is developing a low-cost interceptor designed to strike the targeted drone, forcing it to crash.
“It is missile-shaped, allowing it to travel at incredible speeds,” he adds. “It’s remarkably easy to manufacture; it’s essentially 3D printed,” says Jens Holzapfel, the company’s business director.
Cost is a critical consideration in countering drones.
Last month, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated: “It is unacceptable to shoot down drones costing one or two thousand dollars with missiles that may cost half a million or even a million dollars.”
Mr. Graae highlights that this has been a significant lesson learned from Ukraine: “It has become a competition of how cheaply you can launch a drone attack, and how expensive it is to defend against.”
“As hostile drones become more affordable, it places pressure on defenders to manufacture low-cost countermeasures,” Mr. Holzapfel concurs.
Low-cost drones are increasingly posing a security concern beyond the frontlines of Ukraine.
Poland and Romania have experienced airspace breaches by Russian drones; while separate drone incidents have been reported in Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania, and most recently at Germany’s Munich airport.
Tensions have also been elevated in Denmark following a series of mysterious sightings at airports and military installations throughout the country.
This prompted the defence ministry to deploy “several capacities” capable of detecting, tracking, and jamming drones; and last week, Sweden announced plans to invest over $365 million (£275 million) in anti-drone systems, encompassing measures to jam and shoot down drones, as well as the deployment of hunter drones.
Mr. Holzapfel at Nordic Air Defence currently collaborates with Sweden and its European allies, with clients including military forces, law enforcement agencies, and security firms.
He also identifies civilian sectors, such as shipping and the oil and offshore industries, as potential markets.
In a civilian setting, simply shooting down a drone may be too risky.
“It could be quite hazardous,” says Kasper Hallenborg, citing the potential for falling debris and flammable fuel.
“We witnessed the impact in Poland,” he continues. “That incident involved only drone fragments, which nonetheless caused significant damage to a house.”
Early detection would be beneficial, according to Mr. Hallenborg: “It would then be possible to bring it down in a safer location.”
At short ranges, deploying nets to entangle the drone is another technique, and inexpensive lasers are also under development.
Safer, so-called soft-kill options also exist, including hacking. “This is a more secure method of neutralizing the drone, as it allows for controlled landing,” says Mr. Graae.
Crucially, Mr. Hallenborg suggests that a traffic management system is urgently needed, incorporating electronic license plates for each drone and a means for users to register their flights in advance.
“This would enable us to quickly identify which drones are authorized to be in a particular area and which are not,” says Mr. Hallenborg.
“The [Danish] police have been overwhelmed with reports of drone sightings. It’s likely that many of these drones are operating with legitimate purposes,” he concludes.
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