Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) have seen a rapid surge in popularity in recent years. While they boast numerous valuable applications, they also bring forth a concerning threat to the physical security of administrative, infrastructure, and industrial facilities.

Drones are being employed for both industrial pseudo-espionage and terrorist attacks aimed at disrupting facilities’ operations and causing extensive damage. To counter these risks, companies are increasingly turning to anti-drone systems to safeguard their physical and intellectual assets, and to ensure the well-being of their employees.

In this article, we delve into the business risks that can be mitigated through the utilization of anti-drone security systems. Furthermore, we analyze the architecture of these solutions and delve into the specifics of their operation.

Potential Targets for Enterprise Attacks
Among the most vulnerable targets for drone attacks are industrial enterprises (including chemical and oil companies), agricultural and industrial complexes, administrative buildings, urban infrastructure (such as sewage treatment plants, bridges, and airports), and power generation facilities (such as heat and power plants).

Typically, the targets of reconnaissance and attacks encompass:

• Grain storage silos
• Warehouses
• Flammable and explosive liquids
• Tanks housing toxic substances
• Power generation, pumping, and ventilation installations
• Systems for various forms of protection (such as fire protection)
• Logistics hubs and main pipelines
• Archives, and more

Drone attacks can result in the following repercussions:

• Harm to human life and well-being
• Temporary shutdown of enterprises until recovery is achieved
• Technogenic accidents and environmental catastrophes
• Allocation of time and resources to rectify the aftermath
• Societal demoralization and psychological pressure on victims
• Significant reputational costs

Dangers of Drones: Real-Life Attack Instances
Drones find their use in surveillance, corporate pseudo-espionage, and targeted strikes on industrial and administrative facilities. Here are a few examples of drone-related attacks:

1. Attack on Saudi Oil Facilities: In September 2019, rebels in Yemen employed drones to assault two major oil facilities. This action led to a 50% reduction in Saudi Arabia’s oil production and a surge in global oil prices.
2. US Drone Strike in Iraq: In January 2020, a US drone strike in Iraq resulted in the death of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani. This incident triggered heightened tensions between the US and Iran.
3. Drone Attack in Syria: In May 2019, a province in Syria witnessed an airbase drone attack, although defense systems effectively neutralized all threats.
4. Gatwick Airport Attack: December 2018 saw a series of drone sightings causing mayhem at London’s Gatwick Airport, leading to numerous flight cancellations and impacting thousands of passengers.
5. Reconnaissance UAV in Belarus: In 2022, a reconnaissance drone equipped with an embedded video camera was intercepted in Belarus while conducting surveillance.

These examples portray a spectrum of drone attacks, ranging from disrupting critical infrastructure to causing direct harm to human well-being. Let’s now examine the preparatory stages of an attack.

Conducting Drone Surveillance and Attacks

The preliminary step in orchestrating an attack on industrial and administrative facilities is surveillance. This phase encompasses several components:

1. Planning: This involves studying the terrain, selecting optimal reconnaissance locations, planning flight paths, and determining altitudes.
2. Launching the Drone for Reconnaissance: Real-time analysis of the data gathered during the reconnaissance flight.
3. Post-Flight Analysis: After the drone’s flight, the collected data is scrutinized to pinpoint critical areas within the production facility.
4. Attack Planning: This involves leveraging the gathered data to plan the attack.

Drone attacks on facilities can take various forms based on the target, drone model, and attack objective. Common modes of drone attack include:

1. Remote Detonation: The drone, equipped with explosives, approaches the target closely, lands, and the operator triggers a remote detonation.
2. Contact Explosive Device (CED): Usually employing high-speed drones designed to detonate upon collision with the target.
3. Drone Swarm Attack: In this method, multiple drones are utilized, each equipped with distinct instructions and targets. This approach aims to overwhelm defenses and strike multiple targets simultaneously.

These are just a few examples of how a drone attack can be executed. The increasing availability of drone technology has simplified the execution of such attacks, raising the imperative to implement countermeasures for mitigating and eliminating these risks.

How an Anti-Drone System Helps: Basic Functionality

First and foremost, the system detects the presence of an object within its line of sight. This timely detection enables personnel to swiftly transition production to a safe state, evacuate potentially affected areas, and alert specialized services. For instance, if an average drone traveling at a speed of 30 km/h is employed, at a distance of 1.5 km, emergency services would have 3 minutes to react, including:

• Gathering and preparing for deployment to the presumed attack site.
• Mobilizing technical resources to localize and address the incident.
• Activating or devising a plan for subsequent actions.

High-speed drones can reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, reducing the response time to a mere 1 minute. Nevertheless, even this short timeframe allows for a response to potentially save lives and ensure well-being. Besides indicating suspicious activity, the system logs supplementary information, such as:

• Drone velocity
• Flight direction
• Altitude of flight
• Possible drone type

Documenting this information about unmanned devices permits an evaluation of potential attack vectors, devising technical protective measures, and analyzing attack strategies.

Typical Modules of an Anti-Drone System

An anti-drone defense system commonly comprises the following components:

• Radar System: A transmitter emits radio waves that, upon reflection from obstacles, return to the receiver. Subsequently, the server processes this data, furnishing target designations to the relevant entity.
• Radio Frequency Tracking System: This system enables the tracking of all radio frequency signals within its line of sight, encompassing both civilian and specialized signals. Consequently, the system observes communication between the drone and its operator and provides directional targeting guidance based on this communication.
• Visual Recognition Module: Leveraging the target guidance from preceding modules, this module orients itself towards the target. Upon recognition, it issues a landing signal. If the system cannot identify the drone’s model, it disrupts all radio frequencies, causing the quadcopter to land at the point of communication loss.

The system is intelligent and self-adapts, responding solely to new, unidentified flying objects. It identifies drone movement within a radius of one and a half kilometers, contingent on factors such as:

• Presence of structures
• Terrain and tall trees
• Other physical obstructions that could impede the system.

The composition of the anti-drone system is customized according to customer specifications and can encompass a broader array of technical resources.

Conclusion

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can present substantial risks to individuals, businesses, administrative facilities, and critical infrastructure. As UAV technology advances, the significance of effective countermeasures becomes even more pronounced. A drone defense system is engineered to detect, signal the presence of, and log drone activities. This system enables:

• Prevention of harm to human life and well-being
• Accelerated response time to an attack
• Localization of the aftermath of an attack

When selecting a drone defense system, it’s crucial to account for your business’s unique requirements and choose a system configuration suited to the specifics of your facility. By considering these factors, you can opt for an anti-drone system that offers optimal protection for your critical assets.

In our next article, we will delve into considerations for planning the implementation of an anti-drone defense system using real case studies and outline potential challenges you may encounter.