The Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security have successfully tested a new prototype technology called SkyTracker, which is designed to find rogue drones flying near airports.
The test is a key step toward a system that may help protect the hundreds of thousands of travelers who take to the air in the United States every day.
The weeklong evaluation took place last month at Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey and included engineers from the FAA, Homeland Security and the University of Maryland.
The FAA said it was the first drone detection research in a “commercial airport environment.”
Arlington, Virginia-based CACI International, maker of SkyTracker, said the system “performed as designed.”
“SkyTracker successfully identified, detected, and tracked (unmanned aircraft) in flight, and precisely located drone ground operators — all without interfering with airport ground operations,” CACI Chief Operating Officer John Mengucci said in a statement.
The technology is designed to detect radio signals from rogue drones operating within 5 miles of airports.
SkyTracker uses radio frequency sensors placed in high, prominent locations. When a sensor detects frequencies that drones typically use, it triangulates the signals and determines the location of both the unmanned aircraft and the operator.
The government is also interested in using drone detection systems to protect against people who would use unmanned aircraft “for malicious purposes,” the FAA said.
After data from the test are compiled, a final report is expected by August.
FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker announced the partnership at a drone safety hearing before the House Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation in October.
More than 100 reports are filed to the FAA each month by pilots and others complaining about drones flying close to airports or planes.
A drone flying in the wrong place could easily get sucked into a jet engine or crash into a window and trigger a disaster. The FAA has been writing federal rules for drone operators that are expected to be unveiled this year.