Berlin/Germany, 13 February 2019 – The Drone Insights Conference, jointly organized by the Federal Association of the German Air Transport Industry BDL and the Federal Association of the German Aerospace Industry, took place in Berlin on 12 February. HENSOLDT was represented by CEO Thomas Müller, Spectrum Dominance & Airborne Solutions Head Celia Pelaz and Head of Public Affairs Stefan Hess.
For us at HENSOLDT, business with unmanned aerial vehicles is becoming increasingly important. Our counter UAV system Xpeller is already well known and we also supply autopilots, mission systems and other avionics components for drones of all weight classes and are therefore represented in almost all current air mobility programs.
Less well known is the fact that we ourselves are manufacturers of drones. Our colleagues at EuroAvionics build with the EA1200 (internally also called "Vader" because of the futuristic optics in black carbon fiber) a powerful unmanned aircraft, which has been optimized for use by police and fire brigades and operates together with manned helicopters, but can also be used as a "drone catcher" in a drone defence role.
In the panel "Counter UAS", SDAS Director Celia Pelaz discussed the current threat posed by drones, which are either caused by careless hobby pilots or malicious actors. Not only can drones paralyze airports, as the incidents at Gatwick and Heathrow have impressively shown, they can also spy on companies and invade our privacy. In her panel contribution, Celia Pelaz highlighted the special performance of our Xpeller counter drone system, which we are now supplying to major international airports that are exposed to the threat of drones almost daily.
Xpeller is characterized by its modular design and excellent radar classification capability, which is far above that of competitive systems. In addition, Xpeller's advanced integration of sensors and countermeasures with the command and control system provides superior system performance that even allows semi-autonomous operation.
Pelaz also addressed the risk of cyber attacks on drones, which could be used to hijack aircraft for criminal or terrorist purposes. HENSOLDT Cyber is currently developing specially hardened processors and a secure operating system for embedded systems in order to effectively ward off this threat in the future.
About HENSOLDT
HENSOLDT is a pioneer of technology and innovation in the field of defence and security electronics. Based in Taufkirchen near Munich, HENSOLDT is one of the market leaders in the field of civil and military sensor solutions and develops new products based on innovative approaches for data management, robotics and cyber security to combat a wide range of threats. With around 4,300 employees, HENSOLDT achieves an annual turnover of over 1 billion euros.
Press contact
Lothar Belz
+49 (0)731.392.3681
lothar.belz@hensoldt.net
