Protecting A Football Stadium From Drones

• Drone halts play during Premier League match between Brentford and Wolves;

• Incident shows the value of having drone defence at football grounds and other arenas;

• heliguy™ is a drone defence specialist, offering numerous solutions to protect sporting events from rogue drones.

A drone halted the Premier League match between Brentford and Wolves today - and the incident has shown the value of having drone defence at football grounds and other sporting arenas. 

The 'unofficial' aircraft was spotted flying over the Brentford Community Stadium during the first half, forcing the players to leave the pitch.

The game was halted for 15 minutes before players returned to the field of play and the match was restarted following a warm up.

While the drone did not cause any damage, it did cause disruption and could have been illegally filming footage of the game - although the real reasons of the flight are unknown at this time.

Drone defence is a sensible strategy to have in place to counter this type of threat during a sporting event.

A drone defence system provides real-time data acquisition to enable early identification of an approaching drone, giving time to gauge threat levels and take appropriate action.

heliguy™, an industry-leading drone defence specialist, is able to provide numerous solutions to protect sporting events from rogue unmanned aircraft.

This includes radio frequency detectors. These passive systems scan the airspace for drone frequency bands, detecting a communication link between the drone and controller/pilot. Some provide key Remote ID details, drone model and telemetry data.

These systems provide three key phases of drone defence - detection, classification (ID the drone's make and model), and tracking the aircraft's movements.

This information can be used to decide the best way of responding to an incident.

heliguy™ can also offer what is known as a layered solution - integrating numerous drone defence technologies together via a middle-layer software to build a more robust and comprehensive strategy. 

We have provided solutions for a range of use-cases, including football stadiums, major airports, such as Gatwick (pictured, below); during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone; and supplying the MET Police and MOD for security and defence.

heliguy™ offers installation assessments and plans; site visits; trials and rentals; and lifetime end-to-end on-demand support from in-house engineers, including health checks, telephone/email consultancy and replacement parts and repairs.

To discuss a drone defence strategy for your stadium or arena, contact heliguy™.