Figure 5 Example Aaronia AARTOS system.
Aaronia AARTOS—Protecting the World Stage
After four years of development, Aaronia recently introduced its newest drone detection system—the AARTOS DDS. It is used to detect the incursion of unwanted drones, based on the directional real-time measurement of the electromagnetic emissions of the drone and its remote control. It warns the operator when drones are in the area and sends alerts.
The Aaronia AARTOS systems (see Figure 5) are in use by various government agencies, police departments and military to protect high value critical national infrastructure and personnel or strategically important sites/events. These include nuclear power stations, borders, political or VIP events, airports and airbases. In 2017, over 50 systems had been deployed, and as of July 2018, Aaronia has received more than 300 new orders, so the system is selling very well.
Figure 6 AARTOS deployed at NATO Summit.
In July 2018, Aaronia announced that the Belgium Police selected the system to protect the 2018 NATO summit from the growing threat posed by UASs. Multiple AARTOS systems have been used and positioned in locations such as the roof of the NATO headquarters and on top of the Triumphal Arch in Brussels Jubelpark (see Figure 6), the place where the NATO delegation had dinner. This contract with the Belgium Police followed the successful mission deployment of multiple AARTOS systems during the U.S./North Korean Summit in June 2018.
According to the company, the AARTOS system can detect, track, identify and defeat a drone in approximately 3 seconds at a range of up to 15 km or 9 miles (a special airport version has a reported range up to 50 km). AARTOS even detects multi-band drones using RF detection in real-time before using a RF jammer to defeat the drone. A fully integrated, long range auto target tracking camera backs up the RF detection and is used to verify the drone type and payload.
Using Aaronia AARTOS Sector Jammer Solutions, the operator can effectively take control of a drone and force a safe landing. The AARTOS system is military grade, designed and proven to operate in harsh environments. It works in all weather, day or night and the disruption is flexible, proportional and operator controlled.
Hardware
The drone detector is based on the Aaronia IsoLOG 3D antenna, a real-time Spectrum Analyzer (XFR V5 PRO, RR or RF Command Center) and special software plug-in for the RTSA Suite software. These combined subcomponents provide a system solution that allows 24/7 monitoring and recording with a gapless data-streaming. The system saves considerable measurement time and is compact and flexible. The AARTOS Drone Detector gives an alarm as soon as a remote control is on the air, so even before the drone is in the airborne. Countermeasures can therefore be initiated at an early stage even prior to takeoff.
One of the newest additions to the AARTOS DDS is the optional Visual Detection System—a fully integrated optical and thermal drone detection solution, working in unison with the RF detection mechanisms of the AARTOS Drone Detection System. The optional system enables the user to actually see detected drones even at long distances and makes it possible to identify potentially dangerous modifications to the drone, such as attached explosives.
The single site solution is ready to use within a few minutes. Based on a stationary or mobile spectrum analyzer and the 3D direction finding antenna IsoLOG 3D, this solution is a good choice for surveillance of smaller areas like a single building or structure. The multi-solution consists of several antennas (IsoLOG 3D) and analyzers (Spectran V5 Rugged Rack), coupled together to one centralized monitoring PC which manages all systems simultaneously. The advantage of the multi-solution is the possibility to triangulate the signals. This leads to a very high tracking accuracy. The multi-solution can combine an unlimited number of receivers so can protect very large areas such as industry plants, stadiums, government complexes, etc.
Software
The system has an AI-based complex RF classification capability including a database displaying emitter type, brand, weight, payload, etc. No operator is required as the system is fully automatic. It has simple and easy to use GUI that is continually updated and improved. The scalable software is able to handle even very complex multiple-site systems (e.g., countrywide solution) with flexible integration into third party software.
Figure 7 Example Topographic View map.
The system can display 2D and 3D maps. The most commonly used drone detection view is the 2D View from a simple top-down perspective. It is clearly structured, easy to understand and navigate, very similar to some map-solutions that offer satellite images. The 3D View expands the 2D View by allowing the altitude information of the drone to be displayed visually, when using multiple drone detection systems. In addition, the 3D space makes it easier to see the distances between different objects on the map. Even more sophisticated than the 3D View, the Topographic View can load the height information of the surrounding terrain, making hills, mountains, peaks and valleys visible (see Figure 7). Combined with the 3D-Building system, the Topographic View creates the most accurate representation of the surrounding area.
Drone Protection
The system can be extended by a jammer that can effectively prevent RF contact to a drone to force it into the fail-safe mode, e.g., to land or hover. The interference is very selective so that other RF channels are not impaired. Besides the selectivity, the jammer is highly directional and only jams in the direction of the incoming UAV. Of course, the AARTOS Counter-Measure Solutions can only be sold to entities that have proper government permits for the deployment of jammers.
Aaronia has many improvements planned such as integration with radar and night-vision systems. They plan to offer RF mapping and extending the range to 50 km plus AI-based optical classification and a smart watch solution.
Summary
There are many drone detection and countering systems on the market from various companies ranging from startups to defense contractors to RF test & measurement companies as the commercial drone market has expanded rapidly and represents a serious threat to security of institutions, government buildings, utilities, stadiums and more. Rohde & Schwarz and Aaronia are two of the RF test & measurement companies leading the field in this area with their expertise to monitor, detect, identify and counter drone systems as they use their expertise in spectrum analysis to form the core of a complete solution using other subsystems.
