Interpol held the closing meeting for Project Courageous in Lyon, France today. Hosted at Interpol’s Headquarters, the meeting provided a summary of the key priorities, challenges and accomplishments of Project Courageous.
Established with the aim of developing a standardised test methodology for detecting, tracking and identifying illicit drones, Project Courageous is a European Union led effort to enhance C-UAS interoperability across law enforcement agencies. Through specific drone threat scenarios, Project Courageous tested Counter-UAS technology in Belgium, Greece and Spain. This enabled an objective qualitative and quantitative comparison between different C-UAS tools according to the operational and functional needs defined by the respective end-users.
The first field trial was conducted in Greece in partnership with KEMEA, with the intention of testing the protection of public spaces and events. The second exercise was in Belgium with the Royal Military, who focused on testing military base protection and maritime border protection. Finally, the third trial was held in Spain with the Spanish National Police, looking at standard scenarios, such as the protection of events, airports, and land border protection.
As drones, or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), become more readily available, law enforcement agencies face the challenge of regulating the lower airspace. In addition to commercial and recreational purposes, UAS can also be exploited for criminal activities, such as filming in restricted areas, smuggling drugs and contraband, conducting terrorist operations, and disrupting critical infrastructure, like airports. It is crucial that law enforcement are equipped to identify the right technology to detect, track, and respond when an unauthorized drone enters the airspace.
In an INTERPOL official video for Project Courageous presented during the meeting, Chris Church, Senior Mobile Forensics Specialist at INTERPOL stated that “there is a lack of harmonisation across countries”. He continued “you wouldn’t use the same system at a prison and an airport because the digital signatures of each scenario would be different”.
According to INTERPOL, Project Courageous will “enable buyers to test and verify the technology to ensure it works”, ultimately creating “more transparency among Counter-UAS suppliers”.
