British drone-freezing ray gets US airports trial

A UK-developed system capable of jamming signals to small drones is to be trialled by the US aviation authority.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expanding efforts to source technology that can detect small, unmanned aerial vehicles near airports.

Three British companies developed the Anti-UAV Defence System (Auds), due to be included in new trials.

It works by jamming signals to drones, making them unresponsive.

A thermal imaging camera allows the Auds operator to target the unwanted drone before signal jamming, via a high-powered radio signal, is activated.

Auds was designed by Enterprise Control Systems, Blighter Surveillance Systems and Chess Dynamics.

"Sometimes people fly drones in an unsafe manner," said Marke "Hoot" Gibson, an FAA senior adviser.

"Government and industry share responsibility for keeping the skies safe, and we're pleased these three companies have taken on this important challenge."

The technology will be tested at several airports to be selected by the FAA.

Two other firms - Gryphon Sensors LLC and Sensofusion, both US-based - will also take part.