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Any and all information I post will be obtained through open source materials, and any views or opinions expressed will be my own.
Drone Insurance do I need it?
The big question as a Drone pilot - Insurance do I need it?
As a commercial pilot the answer is YES, to undertake any work within the commercial sector you are required to have insurance. That's to protect you and your clients should the worse happen and you have an accident/incident. Commercial meaning you are being paid for for the flight you are conducting, having passed the course allowing you to fly commercially professional pilots will/should already know this.
However as a hobbyist pilot insurance isn't a requirement!! Weird right when you take into account that the new drone rules allow for smaller separation from uninvolved persons. It is advised by many people that getting insurance is highly recommend as a hobbyist pilot, for the year your looking at under £40 for the basic cover. If something should happen your covered via the public liability of that cover, and if you pay more you can actually cover your drone for any damage sustained. If your not covered and have an accident/incident that injures another person it could potentially cost you a large amount.
Remember if you employ any pilot to conduct work for yourself/company ensure they have the right cover and qualifications, if you employ a recreational pilot to conduct a job and they don't have insurance both parties could potentially be out of pocket. As a client you have the right to ensure the work being conducted is carried out correctly and safely, if you are in any doubt about the pilot and they are registered with the CAA you can ask the CAA directly to check there database.
Any and all information I post will be obtained through open source materials, and any views or opinions expressed will be my own.
General overview of C-UAS defeat methods
General overview is just that I'm not going to go into the science behind each, just really briefly describe each method. One thing to note the use of defeat methods within the UK is illegal unless you are operating with/for the Police and or Military. If you are caught as an individual using any method you are likely to be charged at a minimum, and some of the methods will likely carry a jail term as well.
RF Jamming
Most drones operate within 2 specific bands of frequency 2.4/5.8Ghz, all jamming is doing is interrupting the signal between controller and drone. This in turn makes the drone return to home, hover or whatever the user has set up. A nice easy counter method, but draw backs is other items work on the same frequency so can disrupt other items not drone related.
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Jamming
GNSS is just a fancy way of covering all global positioning systems (GPS) under one heading.
Some drones you are able to map out a route using GPS and fly completely without a controller, this is where GPS jamming comes into effect. The aim is to block the signal to the drone once the drone losses GPS signal it should hover or land, worst case scenario though the drone goes with the wind and moves to a different area. Main draw backs, can affect other GPS enabled items and legitimately flown drones.
Spoofing, Protocol Manipulation and Cyber
Hacking is a better way to put the above method, the main aim is to hack the drone and change protocols within it or take control of it completely. Not many draw backs as you only target the one drone, but hacking in any form is in most cases illegal pretty much everywhere!!
Direct Energy
Whenever you think direct energy everyone thinks lasers!! That's just one of 2 options the other is high power microwave systems. This type of method is in its early stages of development, but the consensus is it will become one of the forefront defeat methods in the future.
Counter UAS Drones
This method is about using a drone to catch a drone, most of these drone are automated as to pilot a drone like this would take a whole new level of skill. T few different types though:-
Kamikaze Style, the CUAS drone seeks out other drones and destroys itself and the enemy drone.
Hunter Style, the CUAS drone seeks out other drones and deploys a capture method, captures the enemy drone and takes it to a pre-designated spot.
Hunter/Kamikaze Style, not used that often and only ever seen 1 online, the CUAS drone is built with metal blades and more robust than other drones, the aim of this type is to seek out and physically remove the enemy drone but still continue to fly and attack multiple drones.
Kinetic Solutions
What do we mean by other? We are talking about firearms and missile systems. An individual with a rifle is unlikely to hit a drone but put that onto an automated system and the chances go up. When you think of other military kit put onto an automated system with airburst munitions the hit chance goes up further. And if a missile can hit a plane chances are you can take out a drone with it although a very expensive option.
A really quick general overview of defeat methods, I'm sure there are more out there, at present though these are the most recognized. Remember to use any of these without correct authorization would be illegal within the UK, same for most countries I would hazard a guess.
Any and all information I post will be obtained through open source materials, and any views or opinions expressed will be my own.
Next time
RPAS/SUAS - DJI are they still leading the pack?
C-UAS - General overview of CUAS Detect methods