A 1952 television show said that if we look up in the sky and see something strange it’s
Superman! He was an imaginary visitor, a good guy, from another planet who came to earth with
super powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. The TV actors audience were
reassured.
Now many people look up into the sky and see drones. They are NOT reassured. Why are
drones overhead? What are they doing? And why, in spite of our leaders saying that they have
no idea where they came from, and that some are the size of an SUV, that there is nothing
illegal to worry about!.
IBIS has data on drone incidents around the world since 2016, so detecting a drone is nothing
new!
This statement that all drones are not illegal, is not accurate in Canada. If you fly a drone over
250 gm, Transport Canada makes it mandatory for you to register your drone, put a Transport
Canada identification number on it and have a drone pilot licence. You can fly below 400 feet,
but you must also comply with criminal, trespass and privacy laws and regulations.
How are drones detected? For a small drone you can see it, hear it, detect the Rf feed and/or
search for the pilot who is supposed to have the drone in line of sight at all times.
Larger, more sophisticated drones, the purpose of which may be nefarious for industrial
espionage, spying, identifying security weaknesses and sabotage, can fly very long distances
and be controlled via satellites, so following them to look for the operator, is usually not feasible.
IBIS uses various ways to detect drones and determine the location of their base, and the drone
owner.
On IBIS EECM (bug sweeps) one of the many pieces of equipment and programmes we use is
made by Aaronia. We like their technical accuracy and have continued to use and update
Aaronia equipment for Radio Frequency (RF) detection for over 25 years. (IBIS gets no fee,
omission or otherwise, from Aaronia.)
IBIS detects and analyses, depending on the detection equipment we deploy, the Rf traffic
between the pilot (the drone operator) and the drone up to 80 Km. Both the operator and the
drone’s movement are tracked. The system sends out various alarms and contact notifications,
so having qualified, diligent, technicians to use and monitor the equipment is essential.
The equipment can be installed permanently at our client’s premises, or on a mobile detection
vehicle. IBIS can detect the characteristics and frequently the individual signature of the
drone(s), what they are doing and trace the drone(s) back to their base.
And NO!, IBIS declines to neutralize or jam the drone(s), unless our client has the legal right to
do so, which is usually, (but not always), Law Enforcement, the Military or a Government.