The drone challenge: “It’s easier to attack than to defend”
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Following the discovery of a drone laden with explosives at Leipzig airport in Germany, Europe is asking itself how to protect infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated aerial threats.
Switzerland, a country at the forefront of drone research, is taking steps to address the issue, but according to expert Roland Siegwart, the gap between attack and defence remains a cause for concern.
“Generally speaking, unfortunately, it has to be said that carrying out attacks with drones is much easier than defending against them, especially in a civilian environment,” says the professor of autonomous systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) in an interview with Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
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“You can’t simply fire randomly into the air, because of the risk of collateral damage. This means that there are still no truly reliable systems for shooting down drones with a reasonable expenditure of resources,” he added.
The main difficulty lies in the very nature of the devices. “Firstly, drones are very small and therefore difficult to detect, whether by radar or cameras,” explains the specialist, who works with Armasuisse, the Federal Office for Armament. “Secondly, defence systems are typically designed for aeroplanes: in that case, one can afford to fire ammunition costing half a million francs a round.”
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“With drones, one cannot simply fire cannons at sparrows. Small systems are needed, and it is by no means easy to develop them.”
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Researchers are exploring alternative approaches. “There are various groups around the world working on this issue. We, too, are studying a system to reliably detect drones, combining radar, infrared cameras and optical cameras,” said Siegwart.
“Once detected, they could be brought down with nets, using other drones or, depending on the situation, possibly by firing at them.”
“Switzerland, relative to its size, is in a very good position,” Siegwart said. “I have been in contact with Armasuisse’s German and Austrian counterparts and would say that our colleagues at Armasuisse are much better informed, understand the subject far better and know how to collaborate with universities. We are therefore relatively well positioned.”
The country boasts a favourable ecosystem. “Switzerland is very strong in the drone sector, particularly when it comes to civilian applications in research. There are several start-ups specialising in drone defence.”
“We won’t have a definitive solution within the next five months. But hopefully, sensible, cost-effective and, at the same time, reliable systems will become available fairly quickly,” Siegwart said.
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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
