The arms company Rheinmetall is joining forces with Deutsche Telekom to jointly fend off enemy drones and cyber attacks. The two companies announced a corresponding development project for a drone protective shield. It’s still at an early stage.
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It’s about detecting drones early and then stopping them using jamming signals – or your own interceptor drones and possibly laser shots, for example at power plants, industrial plants, bridges and other critical infrastructure. It’s not about anti-aircraft guns.
Telekom should contribute its expertise in cell phone networks to the joint project, including in identifying the frequencies used. Rheinmetall is responsible for additional sensors and effectors, i.e. lasers.
Company bosses have big plans
“The threat posed by drones is highly digital,” says Rheinmetall boss Armin Papperger. Defense requires a combination of sensors, effectors and secure communication networks. “Rheinmetall and Deutsche Telekom are combining precisely these skills.”
Telekom boss Tim Höttges points to his company’s expertise in connectivity, cloud and data analysis, which takes drone defense “to a new level”: “Together with Rheinmetall, we are strengthening sovereignty and making our contribution to reducing concerns among the population.”
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To date, most drones in the skies over Germany have been controlled remotely by pilots using a radio frequency, known in English as Radio Frequency (RF). The radio signals can be detected using so-called RF sensors. Telekom uses passive RF sensors that do not emit an active search signal. The good thing about it: If you attach them to radio masts, they don’t interfere with the cell phone technology there.
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Rheinmetall, on the other hand, not only builds drones itself, but also has experience in combating and intercepting enemy drones. This is not just about military use, but also about protecting civilian areas. At the end of last year, the company entered into a partnership with the Hamburg police and the Port of Hamburg to find solutions to possible drone threats.
Telekom is working on protection against cell phone network drones
Germany’s cell phone networks are improving and area coverage is improving. This is fundamentally a good thing, but it does have a side effect: Drones can now be easily controlled over long distances via the mobile phone network – i.e. not by remote control within sight via the usual radio frequency, but from anywhere via the Internet.
This in turn presents companies and authorities with a new challenge. Telekom is working with the Hamburg Bundeswehr University to research how such drones can be found. For this purpose, the mobile network itself becomes a kind of radar that detects certain anomalies in data traffic. This in turn aims to detect the drones at an early stage. This new type of defense against mobile phone drones will also be incorporated into the joint project between Telekom and Rheinmetall.
(afl)
