Japan To Deploy Interceptor Drones With Nets To Fish Out Rogue Drones

December 12th, 2015

Awake Goy

Tokyo police are arming themselves with net carrying drones or so called ‘interceptor drones,’ to catch rogue drones that are considered hazardous to the public, or are flying over restricted areas.

Tech Times reports:

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department believes that by launching the so-called “interceptor drones,” the country will be able to deal with suspicious-looking private drones that can pose a threat to human lives and property.

Starting in the middle of December, the MPD will be operating interceptor drones round-the-clock which shall be handled by the department’s trained riot police personnel. Each of these drones will measure 39 inches in diameter and have a net suspended from their body, which shall measure 118 x 79 inches.

JIJIPRESS YouTube video:

When a suspicious-looking private drone is spotted hovering near key places such as the Diet Building or the official residence of the country’s prime minister, the MPD will respond by deploying an intercept drone in order to catch the flying intruder using the net. Officers will then use loudspeakers to give out a warning to the unmanned aircraft’s controller to vacate the area.

Police concluded that a net would allow them to easily catch drones, according to Asia & Japan Watch:

The Metropolitan Police Department’s unit in charge of patrolling the Diet building, the prime minister’s office, the Imperial Palace and other significant locations in Tokyo will be equipped with the drone in mid-December.

“Terrorist attacks using drones carrying explosives are a possibility,” a senior member of the police department’s Security Bureau said. “We hope to defend the nation’s functions with the worst-case scenario in mind.”

Only one crime-fighting drone will be initially deployed. It will be launched if another drone enters restricted airspace and does not comply with police warnings.

Airspace restrictions were tightened when the amended Aviation Law went into effect on Dec. 10 to address the increasing prevalence of drone use by the public.

According to the Security Bureau, a 3-meter-by-2-meter net will hang from the bottom of the six-propeller drone to capture and entangle suspicious drones. interceptor drones

The Metropolitan Police Department had been considering ways to use drones to capture other drones since an unmanned aerial machine carrying radioactive soil from Fukushima Prefecture was found on the roof of the prime minister’s office in April.

After some trial and error, police concluded that a net would allow them to easily catch drones with little worry about them falling and causing injuries on the ground.