Demonstration for police services on drone management and detection

On Sunday, 6 October, as part of Open Company Day 2024, skeyes and Skeydrone are inviting the leadership of various police units and drone operators from the federal and local police to a demonstration at the skeyes site in Steenokkerzeel. During this event, the focus will be on obtaining flight authorizations for drones, detecting illegal flights, and discussing potential intervention measures against such flights.

Drones are becoming increasingly powerful, and their role in society is growing rapidly, particularly in law enforcement, ambulance services, and firefighting. They are considered true 'game changers.' However, these developments also pose new challenges, such as managing an increasingly complex airspace. This has led to the establishment of a new type of airspace at the European level, called U-space, which allows economically relevant unmanned aviation to operate safely.

A key partner for skeyes and SkeyDrone

The integrated police force is a crucial partner for both skeyes and its subsidiary SkeyDrone. skeyes, which is responsible for safe and efficient air traffic management over Belgium and parts of Luxembourg, acts as the Common Information Service Provider (CISP) for integrating unmanned aviation into controlled airspace. SkeyDrone, a joint venture between skeyes and Brussels Airport, acts as a Service Provider and manages unmanned traffic in the U-space airspace, including granting flight permissions to drone operators.

Soon, the BURDI project (Belgian Netherlands U-space reference Design implementation), led by skeyes, will establish the first U-space for economic drone applications in Europe in the Port of Antwerp. The police are a key partner in this project. Through BURDI, skeyes plays a pioneering role in Europe by implementing European guidelines in an operational framework and contributing to the development of legislation in this area.

Demonstration for police services

During the demonstrations, skeyes and SkeyDrone will provide a clear picture of the capabilities of their systems for police services.

On one hand, the police function as users of the airspace and work closely with the operational air traffic management of skeyes. Police units utilize the airspace under their specific status as 'state aircraft operator.' Traditionally, this use of airspace was limited to police helicopters, but in recent years, drones have also become increasingly important for both federal and local police forces. These drones are deployed in essential operations such as emergency response, surveillance, investigations, and maintaining public order. The use of drones requires additional operational agreements with the different control units of skeyes, especially when drones are operated beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

On the other hand, the local police play a crucial role in monitoring compliance with drone regulations by private users, such as during public events and festivals. For this purpose, an increasing number of police zones are using SkeyDrone's advanced drone detection system. This system, based on a growing network of detection antennas, provides real-time monitoring of drone activities in and around major cities.