Using drones to counter rogue drones long-term solution: Thales official

Using military solutions against "rogue drones" in a civilian environment is not going to happen and, in the end, only drones will be deployed to counter such aircraft, a senior official of French defence conglomerate Thales said.

Alex Cresswell, executive vice president, land and air systems, Thales, said laser-directed energy weapons, missile solutions and radio-frequency (RF) jamming devices were being asked for in India as counter-drone measures.

"A lot of people (in India) are asking for drone countermeasures without really understanding how difficult it would be to actually use the things that they are asking for," Cresswell told PTI.

Asked what kind of demand is there for electro-optical devices and laser energy devices from India, the official said: "There are lots of requests for them and I am not sure that all the (people with) requests have thought through the limitations on their use."
"You can do it very very locally," Cresswell said. "Otherwise, you just bring a whole area to a standstill and that doesn't work. And Gatwick illustrated that doesn't work."
When asked if Thales is working to develop such technology, Creswell replied: "Drones to counter drones, yes, we are absolutely working on that."
Asked about the demand from India regarding these holographic radars, Cresswell said: "We have got proposals for this radar in at least two places (airports) in India... I am pretty sure that we will see many more in the forthcoming months."