MP-MSG-SET-183-12.pdf — page 1

STO-MP-MSG-SET-183 
12 - 1 
Commercial UAVs Multispectral Detection 
Miroslav Kratky, Jan Farlik, Josef Casar and Vadim Stary 
University of Defence, Kounicova 65, 602 00 Brno 
CZECH REPUBLIC  
Miroslav.Kratky@unob.cz 
ABSTRACT  
Despite the fight against unmanned vehicles is nothing new, the arrival of new technologies - that are easily 
accessible for the wider population – there has been arising new problems. The deployment of small, 
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by paramilitary organizations during conflicts all around the world has 
become a reality, non-lethal “paparazzi” actions have become a common practice, and thus, the fight 
against unfriendly users of unmanned systems is on the top agenda for both military and security bodies. The 
basic prerequisite for direct and successful defence against attacking UAVs is their prompt and sufficiently 
accurate detection. The general outputs obtained from calculated, simulated, and experimentally detected 
values confirmed, that the most effective detection should be realised by multispectral sensor systems. 
1.0 INTRODUCTION 
The producers of commercial drones compete for potential customers, and they innovate and improve their 
products constantly. These innovations continuously improve flight parameters such as flying range, speed, 
load capacity, and autonomous activity algorithms or artificial intelligence capable of transporting the drone 
through a number of obstacles [1]. Like any technology, drones can be misused. The aim of this article is to 
inform about the results of a study that examined the detectability of commercially available drones. The 
authors of the study want to contribute to a greater awareness of drone misuse and offer defence options.  
Governments aiming to protect their citizens from the consequences of UAV misuse have to deal with this 
threat very seriously. This is due to the continuous development and innovation in the field of commercial air 
vehicles and the constant struggle between potential aggressors and victims.  
The risk of successful unmanned aerial systems (UAS) misuse is considerably increasing, and defence 
effectivity is decreasing, for example, in the following ways [2], [3], [4]: 
• 
UAV is able to fulfil its task through autonomous flight, even without GPS; 
• 
swarm of UAVs can attack a target; 
• 
UAS is able to recognize a victims’ face and can aim crowds of people as well; 
• 
UASs have more remote control channels [15] and remote control options; 
• 
UASs can be used to paralyze civilian air traffic control. 
However, the victims of UAV misuse are not limited to government institutions or infrastructure. The 
victims of UAS misuse are more often individuals or companies. These private entities need to be 
protected as well. 
Successful air defence against UAVs should include the following activities: 
• the evaluation of threats and risks for a person, company, infrastructure, or state interests and the 
anticipation of vulnerability (Long-Term Threat Assessment and Anticipation); 
• infrastructure adjustment against unwanted UAS operations (Infrastructure Assessment); 
• surveillance of the surrounding area or eventually the entire airspace and UAS detection 
(Surveillance); 
• acquisition of additional UAS data during flight and risk assessment of its behaviour (Tracking and 
Imminent Threat Assessment); 
• rogue UAS identification and elimination (UAS Target Engagement);