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Australia to set up drone-identifying systems


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Tourists in Sydney HarbourImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionDrone hotspots such as Sydney Harbour will also get the monitoring equipment

Drone "hot spots" in Australia are getting sensors to automatically identify the aircraft and their pilots.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) said it would install the equipment at the nation's airports starting next month.

The monitors have been planned for some time, but come in the wake of 72 hours of drone-related disruption at the UK's Gatwick airport last week.

In 2019, Australia will also start a scheme to register drone owners.

The UK is also due to introduce a scheme in November that will require recreational drones weighing 250g (0.55lb) or more to be registered.

Heavy fines

Almost 140,000 air travellers were delayed last week after reports of drone sightings caused huge delays at Gatwick Airport. UK police are still searching for the culprits, although they have also raised the possibility that witness reports of the aircraft were mistaken.

The incident "highlights" the need for a drone-spotting capability, Casa spokesman Peter Gibson told the news agency Agence France-Presse.

The surveillance system would be able to spot the types of drone being flown, read their serial numbers and work out where the pilot was located, he said.

Efforts to identify pilots would be aided by the introduction of the registration scheme for commercial and casual drone owners, he added.

"2019 will be a drone safety crackdown," said Mr Gibson.

As well as airports and other sensitive locations, the drone-spotting systems will be installed in other places known to be popular with drone owners such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Authorities in Australia have expressed worries about the number of drones being flown in restricted areas in recent months.

Anyone breaking rules could face fines of up to 10,000 Australian dollars ($7,058; £5,600) as well as checks on the safety of their craft.

"In 2019 it could be very expensive doing the wrong thing with your drone," said Mr Gibson.

Events at Gatwick were discussed by ministers in a Christmas Eve phone conference.

It is understood the Cabinet Office "pushed" the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office to update their rapid deployment protocol.

They also discussed defence systems across the UK's airports.

 

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Even in the US where the more capable drones require registration with the FAA, there is no means to ensure that people do register them.  And thus there is no way to track them.  In order to adjudicate the illegal use of drones you need to catch the criminal red handed, which has proven difficult for US police.  The best way to take down a drone is with a homemade shotgun cartridge that fires weighted nylon filament strings, it hasn't failed yet.  Though there are commercial lasers that have adjustable focus that look promising, if you can get the drone to hover for a while.

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Just shoot down any you see, drones are the new fricking annoyance

 

Feel free to shoot the owners as well, theyre usually wankers

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