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Army Called in Amid UK Drone Chaos (Updated)

posted by takyon on Friday December 21 2018, @06:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the buckshot-or-HK dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

BBC:

The Army has deployed "specialist equipment" to Gatwick Airport as the travel chaos caused by drone activity shows no sign of abating. Tens of thousands of passengers on several airlines have been disrupted by drones flying over the airport. In a tweet, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson had confirmed the military deployment.

He said: "The armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn't something we would usually deploy but we are there to assist and do everything we can so that they are in a position to open the airport at the earliest opportunity."

Gatwick's runway has been shut since Wednesday night because devices have been repeatedly flown over the airfield.

Free insightful mods for the most creative solution.

Updates:

Shooting down a drone which has caused chaos at Gatwick Airport is a "tactical option" being considered by police. The measure had previously been ruled out by Sussex Police, which cited concerns over "stray bullets". But with the airport expected to remain closed on Friday, Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley said the force would "do what we can to take that drone out of the sky".

Gatwick runway reopens after disruption

A Gatwick spokesperson said: "Gatwick's runway is currently available and a limited number of aircraft are scheduled for departure and arrival. Gatwick continues to advise passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport as departures and arrivals will be subject to delays and cancellations."

Related: 3,500 Troops on Standby to Prepare for a "No-Deal Brexit"

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday December 21 2018, @08:10AM (5 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 21 2018, @08:10AM (#777127) Journal

    EMP? Is nuking the airport worth it though.

    Explosively pumped flux compression [wikipedia.org] works fine with conventional explosives.
    Even an explosive-driven ferromagnetic generator [wikipedia.org] may be enough.

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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  • (Score: 2) by Hyper on Friday December 21 2018, @08:38AM (2 children)

    by Hyper (1525) on Friday December 21 2018, @08:38AM (#777134) Journal

    Explode ordinance close enough to disable the drone without harming anything else?

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday December 21 2018, @11:02AM (1 child)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 21 2018, @11:02AM (#777161) Journal

      May be hard to get close enough to the moving object with a small amount of explosive.
      Which explosive can still be sufficient to form an EMP cone large enough to catch the drone from 100m and still small enough to deliver enough kick to fry the drone's electronics.

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      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by RS3 on Friday December 21 2018, @01:57PM

        by RS3 (6367) on Friday December 21 2018, @01:57PM (#777191)

        How about a nice high-energy EM pulse through a parabolic or phased-array antenna?

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Hyper on Friday December 21 2018, @09:09AM (1 child)

    by Hyper (1525) on Friday December 21 2018, @09:09AM (#777142) Journal

    "Mad Science" means never stopping to ask "what's the worst thing that could happen?"

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Friday December 21 2018, @11:38AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 21 2018, @11:38AM (#777167) Journal

      And what's wrong of that [sciencemadness.org]?

      (grin)

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      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford