WASHINGTON-Federal air-space regulators are checking out drone death rays. The Federal Aviation Administration is testing anti-drone systems for its Pathfinder Program, created to detect and identify drones flying too close to airports. The agency recently signed cooperative research and development agreements for anti-drone systems with Gryphon Sensors LLS of Syracuse, N.Y., Sensofusion of New York (and Finland) and Liteye Systems Inc. of Centennial, Colo., representing three British firms.
The explosive growth of the unmanned aircraft industry makes evaluating detection technologies an urgent priority, said Marke Hoot Gibson, FAA senior advisor on UAS Integration in February, when the FAA teamed up with the Department of Homeland Security and CACI International to test that company's anti-drone prototype system.
The availability of small unmanned aerial vehicles has exploded in the last two years, leading the FAA to create a drone registry in December. By March, there were more than 400,000 entries listed in the registry. With the increased availability of drones, reported sightings near airports and aircraft also rose to a rate of around 100 a month, according to the FAA.
Via Liteye, the British firms have proffered the Anti-UAV Defense System, or AUDS, said to to detect, track, classify, disrupt and neutralize unmanned aerial vehicles as far as six miles away. AUDs was developed by Blighter Surveillance Systems, Chess Dynamics and Enterprise Control Systems. The FAA tapped AUDS for its Pathfinder Program, developed to ID rogue drones flying too close to airports.
AUDS uses an Ku-band electronic scanning radar to detect a drone, then tracks it using precision infrared and daylight cameras and specialist video tracking software, before disrupting the flight with a directional radio frequency jammer. The entire process is said to typically take between eight and 15 seconds. The AUDS team said it has now carried out over 400 hours of live testing in government-related trials against more than 400 flown sorties of group 1 UAVs. Group 1 unmanned aerial vehicles are those weighing 20 pounds or less and with an operating altitude of 1,200 feet or less. It also was said to be found effective with micro UAVs-4.4 pounds or less, according to the FAA classification-at up to 1.2 miles.The AUDS system can be operated from fixed locations or mobile platforms, according to its developers.
Also see...
March 31, 2016
FAA Opens Drone Registry to Commercial Users
As of March 31, the Web-based registry will be open to owners of small unmanned aircraft systems used for commercial, public and other non-model aircraft operations. Up until now, commercial drone users had to register had to use the FAA's legacy registration system in Oklahoma City.
March 28, 2016
Drone Sightings: FAA Logs 583 Reports of UAVs Near Airports
The FAA said reports of unmanned aircraft have increased dramatically since 2014, and now stand at around 100 a month.
February 8, 2016
Drone Rules Wend Through Congress
Lawmakers are pressuring the FAA to get on with it so that UAS research and development isn't driven off shore.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
WASHINGTON-Federal air-space regulators are checking out drone death rays. The Federal Aviation Administration is testing anti-drone systems for its Pathfinder Program, created to detect and identify drones flying too close to airports. The agency recently signed cooperative research and development agreements for anti-drone systems with Gryphon Sensors LLS of Syracuse, N.Y., Sensofusion of New York (and Finland) and Liteye Systems Inc. of Centennial, Colo., representing three British firms.
