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Expert testimony outlines counter-drone options and costs for prisons
Summary
A private-sector counter-UAS expert told the committee there is no silver bullet: detection can involve radar, passive RF, and cameras; defeat options include jamming, cyber defeat, nets, or kinetic means. Costs vary by system and site, with passive detection and cyber-defeat systems estimated between roughly $100,000 and $500,000.
Dirk Manley, president of Boundary Creek Partners (a counter-UAS firm), told the committee that protecting facilities from drones requires a layered approach: "You need a layered approach. Typically... detect, track, identify, and defeat." He described detection via radar and passive RF (listening for controller-to-drone protocols), automated camera cueing (EO/IR), and the ability to locate operators.
Manley said defeat options include jamming Wi-Fi or GPS signals so the aircraft lands or returns home, cyber-defeat that can seize or direct the drone without wide-area jamming, and kinetic or capture systems (nets, confetti-wrapping projectiles) when necessary. On cost he said passive detection systems can be "fairly inexpensive" but that solutions range "from $100,000 to close to $500,000" depending on capability and site layout. He warned that adversaries can program home locations and that swarming or high-capacity payloads complicate defenses.
