The British Army reportedly used a revolutionary Israeli anti-drone method to intercept the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) causing disruption to hundreds of thousands of people at Gatwick airport, many trying to get home for Christmas or to start their holidays.
CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman in the House of Lords, Lord Pickles said he was “very pleased to see Israeli technology being used at Gatwick Airport to make flights possible again. GOOD news for traveller’s BAD news for those peddling a boycott of Israeli goods”.
Sussex Police said officers had been using “a range of tactics” to hunt for the unidentified drone operators and “build resilience to detect and mitigate further incursions” from the device.
Superintendent James Collis, Sussex Police, said, “as part of our ongoing investigations into the criminal use of drones which has severely disrupted flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, Sussex Police made two arrests just after 10:00pm (2200 GMT) on December 21”.
“Every line of inquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers.”
The Daily Mail reported that the British Army used the Israeli-made “Drone Dome” to take down the UAV after hours of trying to do so with a commercial anti-drone system.
Six of the systems, which were developed by Israeli defense firm Rafael, were sold to the UK Ministry of Defence in August in an estimated $20 million deal, according to Israel’s Globes financial daily.
John Howell OBE MP, CFI Parliamentary Officer wrote on Twitter: “reports today that we have been using Israeli anti-drone systems to defeat the drones that brought Gatwick to a halt. Brilliant news for Israeli-British co-operation and trade and one in the eye for the boycott movement”.
Under a new British law, drones cannot be flown near aircraft or within a kilometre of an airport, or at an altitude of over 400 feet.
