Turkish drones may now be visiting us every day, but Greece is already preparing the system that takes them off
The much-hyped Turkish drones are by no means invulnerable and as it has been proven, they can very easily be “blinded” or misled by smart and cheap electronic countermeasures.
According to the APE-MPE, the National Center for Research and Technological Development (EKETA/IPTHIL), is already in the stage of final tests for the first Greek anti-drone platform.
The research team is ready to move to the stage of final tests in real conditions while, at the same time, EKETA is in discussions with private companies for its eventual commercial exploitation.
In the previous days, as reported by APE-MPE, Mr. Dimas, the Institute of Information Technology and Communications of the National Center for Research and Technological Development (EKETA/IPTIL), within the framework of the 2020 European project ALADDIN, participated in the planning, development and evaluation of an anti-UAV (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) system.
It is a comprehensive solution to the growing problem of the AML threat, building on a state-of-the-art system and enhancing it with research into various detection and neutralization technologies and functions.
Thus, he developed deep learning methodologies and integrated sensors of various types, to implement the first integrated platform of Greek design for the detection, identification, localization and neutralization of unauthorized and potentially hostile unmanned aerial vehicles.
As Mr. Dimas notes in APE-MPE: “We want to make use of the talented Greek scientists, in order to cope with the challenges of our time, such as national defense/security”.
The EKETA team is developing an integrated, reliable scientific solution, which is the first Greek designed anti-drone platform and is based on state-of-the-art systems. “Today, we observe the increasing impact of new technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics and algorithms on the security pillar”, says Mr. Dimas and adds:
“Greece, with its scientific potential, can play a leading role in this field. The initiative is a good example of what we have set as our goal, namely to more effectively connect domestically produced research, innovation, new technologies and entrepreneurship with Civil Protection and National Defense.”
The system participated in the data challenge, within the framework of the International Conference on Military Communications and Information Systems (ICMCIS 2021). The competition was organized by the NATO Information and Communications Agency and ran from February to May 2021. It won 1st place by proposing a tracker, based on Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, with an innovative tracking method, which based on the correlation and fusion of data from multiple sensors.
Today EKETA is in the phase of perfecting the anti-drone system, in terms of the different sensors used (radar, thermal and optical cameras, microphones, radio wave detectors) and the algorithms that have been developed, with the research team ready to pass through the stage of its final tests, in real conditions. At the same time, EKETA is in discussions with private companies for its eventual commercial exploitation.
For his part, the chairman of the Board of Directors of EKETA Dimitris Tzovaras stated that “the development of this advanced multi-threat drone detection system by EKETA has a double meaning: both because it is the result of utilizing the knowledge produced in our Research Center, and because promotes innovation and the economy of knowledge for the benefit of society, providing, in this regard, key solutions in the field of security and protection of the state and citizens. For these reasons, we are happy to be in the final phase of its optimization and particularly optimistic that we will soon proceed with its commercial exploitation”.
Finally, the Level B researcher of the Institute of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) of EKETA, Konstantinos Votis, notes in his statement: “Now, through deep learning methods, it is possible to develop precision mechanisms for detecting threats from systems of unmanned aerial vehicles, contributing decisively to the security of critical infrastructures”.
