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takeoff drone on the runway flight from roof to roof flight into music How dangerous are drones to commercial airports and aircraft, and are current UAV mitigation and countermeasure technologies fit for purpose when it comes to identifying and nullifying the threat? The subject was brought into sharp relief this past December when two unauthorised drones sighted near London’s Gatwick Airport forced the authorities there to ground aircraft for 36 hours, resulting in misery for more than 140,000 commercial and business passengers, and costing the airport’s partners and stakeholders an estimated £50m – with Gatwick itself on the hook for £15m. Transport secretary Chris Grayling described it as ‘a new kind of attack’, the RAF were deployed and Gatwick spent £5m to prevent future attacks, but three months on, theories continue to abound as to who was responsible, with one report claiming it was an inside job by a disgruntled employee. One thing most people can agree on
