Europe’s largest airshow successfully returned to its biennial schedule, taking place in early September in Zeltweg, Murtal region (Styria, Austria). A team of specialists from AARONIA Austria, working alongside the Austrian Armed Forces, protected the show from unauthorized drones. AARTOS, the world's most successful anti-drone system, which has been used by the Austrian Armed Forces for years, played a key role in ensuring the safety of the 250,000 spectators.

With 206 aircraft from over 20 nations, including 40 from the Austrian Armed Forces and 37 from the Flying Bulls, Airpower once again proved to be Europe's largest and most spectacular airshow. At such a large-scale event, ensuring the safety of both the audience and participants is of utmost importance. Protecting against illegal drones is a critical part of this security, helping to ensure that the breathtaking performances, including those by aerobatic teams like the Flying Bulls and the Austrian Armed Forces’ Eurofighters, can be safely enjoyed by the spectators.

To counter drone threats, the Austrian Armed Forces deploy the Electronic Warfare for Drone Defense (ELDRO) system. Since 2018, their specialists have relied on the "AARTOS DDS" sensor system as the heart of ELDRO. Following the successful collaboration during Airpower22, it was a natural choice for the Austrian military to once again seek the expertise of AARONIA to help secure the event. Specialists from AARONIA Austria integrated a mast system equipped with sensors, radar and cameras into the existing infrastructure to create a cohesive detection network. One of AARTOS’s key strengths is its modular design, which allows for seamless integration of various components.

This year, a fully automatic 28 m mast system featuring an AARTOS X9 high performance RF sensor was introduced, further upgrading the surveillance capabilities. The system not only enhanced the monitoring of the entire frequency spectrum but also simplified operational handling.

All AARTOS systems, whether mobile or stationary, offer several key advantages over competing systems, including:

• Real-time determination of drone position, flight path and operator location.
• Scanning the entire frequency spectrum from 9 kHz to 40 GHz, including parallel scanning of multiple frequencies.
• Seamless integration of various sensors, including radar and cameras, with the ability to provide a unified situational awareness picture for all security forces on the ground.

“A show like Airpower24, with its highly demanding topographical conditions, is an event where our mobile AARTOS solution can really shine,” explains Stephan Kraschansky, CEO of AARONIA Austria. “Our system can be deployed in minutes. The command center, powered by the RTSA Suite PRO software, ensures 360-degree coverage well beyond the designated no-fly zones, detecting over 99 percent of all commercial drones — even those that are pre-programmed.”

Due to extensive media work following numerous detections at previous events like Formula 1 and MotoGP, no drone sightings occurred during the show itself. Only the night before Airpower were there a few drone incidents, all of which were successfully intercepted.

In such cases, the system’s ability to detect the home or starting location with a precision of 5 m allows military police to pinpoint and locate the operator swiftly. A successful concept that will hopefully not only reliably protect spectators at Airpower in the future. AARTOS has once again proven that it is the ideal solution for protecting all types of events from illegally used drones.