Drones at Gatwick

^annodomini Thu 20-Dec-18 21:17:18
Military drones are piloted from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from the target. That's how the US has bombed targets in Syria, is it not? Who is to say that the perpetrator of this act of sabotage is actually in this country? Or is this notion too far-fetched?^

I think you're right anno. It's not too far-fetched at all.
The drones are not being flown by some lads in a field adjacent to the runway!!

Planes are now starting to fly into and out of Gatwick. I would think something has happened to make security feel confident this is safe to do.

The drones are being controlled from close to the airfield, probably from a car or van that keeps moving or even continuously moving. It has been suggested that the batteries can be bypassed, not sure how you would do that in a drone flying a couple of miles away.
So they have to be close enough to change batteries, they control it with a smart phone app, probably one they have written or modified themselves, it is GPS guided and will fly back to the operator automatically wherever he is.
This is hard to stop because it uses mobile phone signals and there are thousands coming out of Gatwick

Probably not a Eco warrior just a hacker who wants to cause mayhem. He has had his fun and will vanish, until the next time.

It is being said that drones will bring great benefit to society - well, it will be a long time before the cost of this chaos is recouped, not to mention the prison drone issue.

David I don't think they are being piloted by local hackers to cause mayhem. If they were, I think they would have been caught by now.

I think Annodomini is right with what she says -

^annodomini Thu 20-Dec-18 21:17:18
Military drones are piloted from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from the target. That's how the US has bombed targets in Syria, is it not? Who is to say that the perpetrator of this act of sabotage is actually in this country? Or is this notion too far-fetched?^

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6519211/The-2-6m-Israeli-Drone-Dome-Army-used-defeat-Gatwick-UAV.html"

OK explain how they change the batteries, they have been appearing for a while, going away then returning
Hard to pinpoint a mobile phone signal amongst thousands unless you know the number.
The military could shoot it down but too much risk of collateral damage, it's not a war zone.

I really hope we get to eventually know ' the truth ' behind this because the conspiracy theorists are going crazy!

Fennel Very interesting article, but I do sometimes wonder why we publicise all our secrets, don't you?

Davidhs I believe there's such a thing as "wireless recharging".

On Twitter it’s being posted that the police have identified person/persons of interest, regarding the drone affair.

Clutching at straws sparklefizz wireless charging is very short range stuff not a moving drone
Even with 2 million of pounds worth of kit they didn't catch the drone, let's hope they do by other intelligence.

The drone is back.

Planes grounded again at Gatwick.

Ellen Oh no......

David I bow to your much greater knowledge over drone batteries.

School kid? Someone free at weekend, and earky evening

One of the runways has had flights suspended again, apparently.
Another drone.

I must admit that one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind was that there are bound to be some idiots out there who think 'That looks like a good laugh,I'll try that'. And before I get shot down in flames for thinking badly of my fellow humans,I think they are from the same mould as computer hackers,and people who send computer viruses,and I'm pretty sure that they get the idea planted in their heads by seeing others do it and getting away with it.

Well done the Army! Gatwick back up and running again.

Police are interviewing two men

Latest says a man and a woman being interviewed.

This from the Guardian “A range of tactics have been used to combat the drones but few details have been released. One piece of equipment believed to have been deployed at the airport is the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can detect drones using radar. It can also jam communications between the drone and its operator, enabling authorities to take control of and land the drone.”

It would be nice to hear that they had got the drone, so I guess they haven't.
Aparently he was hovering the drone right in front of the control tower, taking the p!!!.
To do that he would have to fly manually using the camera. This is no kid, he is a skilled hacker out to prove a point.

I did Google industrial drones, some can carry 25 kg for 20 mins duration, buy one for £10k or steal one, that is a very big bomb if there was malicious intent rather than nuisance.

If I had to dish out punishment the offenders would find themselves lashed to a drone and flown out over the north sea.
Evil morons causing mayhem at an airport.

Put the morons inside Gatwick airport with all those people whose Christmas has been ruined by their actions.

I hope that the anti-drone technology is very quickly deployed at other UK airports. Some other b******s might well decide on a copycat exploit.

I read that there was no signal between drone and its owner/controller because it was preprogrammed - hence owner and drone could not be traced by signal.

It's probably been cobbled up in someone's shed/garage by a computer nerd.

According to today's Times:

"Chris Grayling shelved plans to introduce laws regulating drone use in Britain despite being warned on multiple occasions about the risk they posed to airports."

He should be sacked.