Gatwick closed by drones
Discussion
Puggit said:
You don't need hi-tech: Ealges trained to take down drones: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-3575081...
I was think of that too ("eagles"). They're in Holland, so not too far away. Do we have free movement of eagles? Its quite astonishing this scenario has not been predicted & plans in place to deal with it. At one of the worlds busiest airports!
It also goes to show just how vulnerable mass transportation is to this type of disruption attack. And this is a really simple task to do undetected & remotely unless someone spots the launch or recovery site.
The tech & birds are clearly out there to deal with it. Surely it should be a simple case of detect, shut down flights, arm the weaponry, take down drone, re-open & investigate.
It also goes to show just how vulnerable mass transportation is to this type of disruption attack. And this is a really simple task to do undetected & remotely unless someone spots the launch or recovery site.
The tech & birds are clearly out there to deal with it. Surely it should be a simple case of detect, shut down flights, arm the weaponry, take down drone, re-open & investigate.
eharding said:
Shakermaker said:
Thankyou4calling said:
This is absolute comedy gold.
A major international airport closed by something probably bought in the Maplins closing down sale.
Cops
Airport officials
Fire
Ambulance
There will be a COBRA meeting soon.
No body has the backbone to say enough! All covering their backs.
We see it everywhere and the offenders will be laughing their heads off.
What are you waffling on about?A major international airport closed by something probably bought in the Maplins closing down sale.
Cops
Airport officials
Fire
Ambulance
There will be a COBRA meeting soon.
No body has the backbone to say enough! All covering their backs.
We see it everywhere and the offenders will be laughing their heads off.
rxe said:
Of course you can hit moving things with a shotgun. But if that moving thing is 100 meters above your head, you don't have the range. Literally, the shot won't reach the target.
You could think of using a rifle. Two problems - it is very hard indeed to hit a moving object with a precisely aimed rifle bullet. So the idea of a "single shot kill" is not going to happen. You'd need lots of bullets, and then you have the problem of where they land - a rifle bullet will travel several miles in ballistic flight, and be capable of doing lots of damage when it lands.
Shooting these things down is the stuff of fantasy.
You could think of using a rifle. Two problems - it is very hard indeed to hit a moving object with a precisely aimed rifle bullet. So the idea of a "single shot kill" is not going to happen. You'd need lots of bullets, and then you have the problem of where they land - a rifle bullet will travel several miles in ballistic flight, and be capable of doing lots of damage when it lands.
Shooting these things down is the stuff of fantasy.
Almost, Directed Microwave Energy Weapons... A fancy way of saying a high powered microwave beam.
You can use them as a denial weapon, target ahead of the drone, let the drone fly into it. It will damage any non-hardened electronics, interfere with RF and is non lethal to humans (although I wouldn't want to stand in front of a high powered microwave beam). A civilised version of Vigilant Eagle perhaps.
They're already used as anti-munitions systems by the military so they are effectively COTS.
However I don't think we're quite at the stage of installing military grade anti-munitions masers at UK airports just yet. Let the Police do their job, find the culprit and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Chances are this is someone who has a serious problem with Gatwick, so they shouldn't be hard to find.
rxe said:
Of course we could shoot things down in WWII because we didn't really care where the bullets landed. Damaging things/people on the ground was a risk worth taking when there were planes dropping bombs on your head.
This, the main reason they weren't shooting them down was as you said, it's a difficult task. The secondary reason was because of the risk of damage on the ground. You can guarantee the papers would be full of stories of police incompetence if they had of successfully shot it down, but an OAP got so much as a minor scratch from falling down due to the noise of the crash. 
From what I can tell, the police have said the last sighting of the drone(s) was at 08.45am this morning, how much longer are they going to keep the runway closed for? I would have thought the time that has passed now would be plenty to allow a proper search.
They must be able to start getting a few flights off the deck now really.
They must be able to start getting a few flights off the deck now really.
That footage from inside the jet of a drone flying outside, looks like a rather big machine to me.
When I did my CAA permissions course we did some night flying with a DJI Phantom 4Pro. You could barely see it 50 meters away! Nighttime distance flying is not easy. Also relying of the camera to see where your going isn't easy either.
My guess is the operator is fairly close to the airport. The DJI drones can cover a big distance 2-3 miles (from memory) but you'd not be able to see it.
Most of the automated software Litchi and DJI control software wont allow you to fly in airspace near an airport. I can't see any nav lights either so I'm starting to think its a custom build unit.
As for battery power, the unit could be tethered and be powered from the ground https://www.ntpdrone.com/ in this case I doubt it.
This wont be a cheap thing from Maplin's or the likes of. My dji drone with 3 spare batteries cost £1800 and can fly in good weather for about 27 minutes. windy conditions reduces time. The DJI Inspire has a similar flight time of upto 30 minutes.
for anyone interested heres the spec on the P4 including max altitude and distance https://www.dji.com/phantom-4/info
When I did my CAA permissions course we did some night flying with a DJI Phantom 4Pro. You could barely see it 50 meters away! Nighttime distance flying is not easy. Also relying of the camera to see where your going isn't easy either.
My guess is the operator is fairly close to the airport. The DJI drones can cover a big distance 2-3 miles (from memory) but you'd not be able to see it.
Most of the automated software Litchi and DJI control software wont allow you to fly in airspace near an airport. I can't see any nav lights either so I'm starting to think its a custom build unit.
As for battery power, the unit could be tethered and be powered from the ground https://www.ntpdrone.com/ in this case I doubt it.
This wont be a cheap thing from Maplin's or the likes of. My dji drone with 3 spare batteries cost £1800 and can fly in good weather for about 27 minutes. windy conditions reduces time. The DJI Inspire has a similar flight time of upto 30 minutes.
for anyone interested heres the spec on the P4 including max altitude and distance https://www.dji.com/phantom-4/info
cptsideways said:
No one could possibly shoot that without guaranteeing there would be possibly no damage to a gnome in Dorris’ garden down the road when it falls. It would cost more to replace than the £5m it’s cost to close the airport for a day. 996owner said:
That footage from inside the jet of a drone flying outside, looks like a rather big machine to me.
When I did my CAA permissions course we did some night flying with a DJI Phantom 4Pro. You could barely see it 50 meters away! Nighttime distance flying is not easy. Also relying of the camera to see where your going isn't easy either.
My guess is the operator is fairly close to the airport. The DJI drones can cover a big distance 2-3 miles (from memory) but you'd not be able to see it.
Most of the automated software Litchi and DJI control software wont allow you to fly in airspace near an airport. I can't see any nav lights either so I'm starting to think its a custom build unit.
As for battery power, the unit could be tethered and be powered from the ground https://www.ntpdrone.com/ in this case I doubt it.
This wont be a cheap thing from Maplin's or the likes of. My dji drone with 3 spare batteries cost £1800 and can fly in good weather for about 27 minutes. windy conditions reduces time. The DJI Inspire has a similar flight time of upto 30 minutes.
for anyone interested heres the spec on the P4 including max altitude and distance https://www.dji.com/phantom-4/info
Reading the comments under that video, I think it was a police helicopter not a drone When I did my CAA permissions course we did some night flying with a DJI Phantom 4Pro. You could barely see it 50 meters away! Nighttime distance flying is not easy. Also relying of the camera to see where your going isn't easy either.
My guess is the operator is fairly close to the airport. The DJI drones can cover a big distance 2-3 miles (from memory) but you'd not be able to see it.
Most of the automated software Litchi and DJI control software wont allow you to fly in airspace near an airport. I can't see any nav lights either so I'm starting to think its a custom build unit.
As for battery power, the unit could be tethered and be powered from the ground https://www.ntpdrone.com/ in this case I doubt it.
This wont be a cheap thing from Maplin's or the likes of. My dji drone with 3 spare batteries cost £1800 and can fly in good weather for about 27 minutes. windy conditions reduces time. The DJI Inspire has a similar flight time of upto 30 minutes.
for anyone interested heres the spec on the P4 including max altitude and distance https://www.dji.com/phantom-4/info
Canute said:
From what I can tell, the police have said the last sighting of the drone(s) was at 08.45am this morning, how much longer are they going to keep the runway closed for? I would have thought the time that has passed now would be plenty to allow a proper search.
They must be able to start getting a few flights off the deck now really.
Nearer 11:00 aparently . They must be able to start getting a few flights off the deck now really.
I think this is part of the problem, most people don't understand just how far someone with a bit of know how can take the technology.
The govt / police need to get some proper advisors on board who are up to date with what can be done.
Plenty of people are doing unlimited distance flights using custom auto pilot software and their only limiting factor is battery.
However there have been some pretty good advances in battery tech in the last 12-18 months and a lot of the long range boys flying fixies are onto lithium battery tech which is in some cases giving them 3-4 hour flight times. Their range is unlimited as they are using mobile data.
Even someone with pretty much no previous experience could put a small drone up on loiter for 2 hours with a budget of <£500.
I think the best solution in this case is to find the drone and hope they left DNA / prints or perhaps some simple mistake like SD card / SIM with old data on it.
They also need to run some usage reports on the mobile networks... 3am is fairly quiet should be able to find some info...
The govt / police need to get some proper advisors on board who are up to date with what can be done.
Plenty of people are doing unlimited distance flights using custom auto pilot software and their only limiting factor is battery.
However there have been some pretty good advances in battery tech in the last 12-18 months and a lot of the long range boys flying fixies are onto lithium battery tech which is in some cases giving them 3-4 hour flight times. Their range is unlimited as they are using mobile data.
Even someone with pretty much no previous experience could put a small drone up on loiter for 2 hours with a budget of <£500.
I think the best solution in this case is to find the drone and hope they left DNA / prints or perhaps some simple mistake like SD card / SIM with old data on it.
They also need to run some usage reports on the mobile networks... 3am is fairly quiet should be able to find some info...
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