Nev. helps develop defense systems against drones
By Nicole Raz, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada drone experts have finished a Federal Aviation Administration operation in Denver to develop the counter unmanned systems industry, which is the development of defense systems against drone threats.
“Right now airports do not have a radar that can effectively detect small drones (weighing less than 55 pounds),” said Chris Walach, director of the FAA-designated Nevada Unmanned Aviation Test Site. “When a bird gets sucked into an airliner engine, you have an engine failure. If a bird can produce that type of damage to an airline engine, you can imagine what an unmanned aircraft could do.”
The FAA chose Nevada to lead the operation to test different detection technologies that air traffic control could use to detect unmanned aircraft. Flight teams worked Sunday to Friday flying multiple aircraft at once with different frequencies with the goal of confusing various radar technologies.