Background
The global drone market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, reaching a value of $41.25 billion by 2030. In Asia Pacific, the market is already worth $5 billion, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% between 2021 and 2027.
MWI is working with Drone Defence, who is developing a wide-area sensor network to detect, identify, and monitor drones. This network will be able to effectively track even small and inconspicuous drones, and will be a valuable tool for security and safety applications.
Project
We begun the project with Drone Defence from Retford, UK, back in January 2023.
Over the 24-month implementation plan, fifty AeroSentry Zero remote-ID sensors will be deployed around Singapore, with the project being split into 4 phases.
The pilot phase will involve the installation of 3 drone detection sensors being deployed at a number of trial sites. Following on from this, phase 1 will see several sensors deployed across the Southern region, phase 2 focusing on the Northern region and finally, phase 3 covering the Central region of Singapore.
Richard Gill, CEO and founder of Drone Defence said: “We’re excited to be taking part in this project in Singapore. The installation of the AeroSentry Zero sensor network is extensive and will provide full coverage of the 720 sq. km city-state, to ensure all conspicuous drones are identified and visible via AeroTracker.“
He continues: “This remote-ID network will also provide visibility for Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management (UTM) systems, offering data and analytics into Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight paths, trends and areas to avoid for flight corridors.”
This ground-based infrastructure approach will also be combined with Drone Defence’s unique cloud-based Airspace Monitoring System (AMS), ‘AeroTracker’. The system provides a user-friendly, online interface, displaying any conspicuous drones and their locations, detected by deployed remote-ID sensors.
Drone Defence’s ‘AeroPing’ will also be used in conjunction with this project. The FAA approved real-time drone transponder will be used to ensure accuracy of the remote-ID sensors.
This project will also allow other individuals and organisations to make use of the sensor remote-ID network.
As well as feeding the sensor data to AeroTracker, the network will also be made available via API, providing the option to integrate the same data points into an existing system.
Services such as FoodPanda and their ‘PANDAFLY’ service, may then utilise this data for their inter-island food drone deliveries, which is currently under trial.
Richard Gill continues: “This is the kind of network we would like to see in the UK in future, providing full coverage detection, to ensure that all conspicuous drone flights are tracked and monitored.”
The project is set for completion at the end of 2024.
MWI and Drone Defence
MWI and Drone Defence first connected through a joint innovation project between Singapore and UK.
With due diligence, both companies concurred with the vast potential of a commercial level and non-intrusive drone detection solution for the Singapore market. While business development efforts were in place, MWI was able to send a team to UK to meet Drone Defence in person for training and to strengthen the relationship between both companies.
Drone Defence showed top-notch hospitality for MWI’s team while we were there for a three day training program. Within three days, Drone Defence was able to do partial knowledge transfer of their technology, software application, and demonstrated a series of live system tests in an airfield.
With the team back in Singapore, we are looking to test the systems locally in the near future and target some immediate pain points to solve.
We look forward to the adoption of our commercial, hassle-free drone detection system across Singapore.