- Title: Anti-drone units a new tool to keep Paris 2024 Olympics safe
- Date: 14th March 2024
- Summary: VILLACOUBLAY, FRANCE (MARCH 14, 2024) (REUTERS) ANTI-DRONE "WATSON" JAMMING RIFLE BEING USED BY POLICE DRONE IN FLIGHT POLICE USING BINOCULARS POLICE LOOKING AT COMPUTERS DURING FRONE DETECTION EXERCISE VARIOUS OF COUNTER-DRONE EQUIPMENT SET UP IN FIELD MAP OF FRANCE CONTROL CENTRE WITH POLICE AND MILITARY PERSONNEL POSTER FOR COUNTER-DRONE UNIT "LAD" (SOUNDBITE) (French) GENERAL OFFICER IN CHARGE OF AIR AND ANTI-DRONE PROTECTION FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES, ARNAUD BOURGUIGNON, SAYING: "The drone is a threat vector like an airplane can be. You hijack a plane, you can turn it into a weapon. The drone is actually a vector that has significantly fewer capabilities than an airplane. The threat posed by the drone is the load it will carry. So when I talk about threats by protesters, it could be a banner hung to express certain opinions that we wouldn't want to see on an Olympic site. But the most dangerous threat, of course, is a drone used for terrorist purposes, which could carry a payload, you've all seen it, you're all aware of it. Now, the load it can carry is always proportional to the size of the drone and the impact is smaller. But we cannot afford to have this drone reaching above an Olympic site or above the public attending events, and this is the reason why we are giving depth to our operation to be able to treat a drone before it is above the protected sites." DRONE ON LAND VARIOUS OF EQUIPMENT IN FIELD BOURGUIGNON DURING PRESS VISIT EQUIPMENT IN FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (French) GENERAL OFFICER IN CHARGE OF AIR AND ANTI-DRONE PROTECTION FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES, ARNAUD BOURGUIGNON, SAYING: "Right there, you have the Parade system. As I told you earlier, the Parade system is made up of several elements. You have the radar, the radar that you see in the direction of my arm on the tripod. You have right next to it the camera that you see rotating, which is slaved to the detection of the radar, and when the radar sees something in flight, the camera will go to it to be able to identify it." CAMERA ON TRIPOD COUNTER-DRONE FORCES DURING EXERCISE DRONE IN FLIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (French) GENERAL OFFICER IN CHARGE OF AIR AND ANTI-DRONE PROTECTION FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES, ARNAUD BOURGUIGNON, SAYING: "And finally, just behind the camera, you have the jammer that will jam the drone that has been detected and that has nothing to do in the protected area. So here, you have the elements of what I call the heavy systems. Why? Because you see that when we have them in place somewhere, we are not going to change the positioning every hour. They are set up for the duration of the Olympic Games." VARIOUS OF EQUIPMENT USED IN DRONE DETECTION (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTI DRONE POLICE, NICOLAS, SAYING: "We have received a five-day training, we will be deployed on a site, and we must detect, identify and then neutralise according to instructions we receive from our coordinating operator." DRONE IN FLIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTI DRONE POLICE, NICOLAS, SAYING: "The drone is detected beforehand with a suitcase called Aerosafe. As a result, any unfriendly drone will be neutralised if it enters the previously defined perimeter." COUNTER-DRONE FORCES DURING EXERCISE (SOUNDBITE) (French) GENERAL OFFICER IN CHARGE OF AIR AND ANTI-DRONE PROTECTION FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES, ARNAUD BOURGUIGNON, SAYING: "We are ready to protect the Olympic Games and to ensure that these Olympic Games will be a celebration for everyone and that spectators will come peacefully to watch all the events. We are doing our job, we are putting the best systems in place. We're the ones dealing with threats from the air." "WATSON" JAMMING RIFFLE VARIOUS OF ANTI-DRONE EQUIPMENT IN FIELD GENDARMERIE CAR NET-THROWING SKYWALL DRONE DEFENCE SYSTEM (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTI DRONE POLICE, SEBASTIEN, SAYING: "With the rifle we have here, we can carry out physical neutralisation as a last resort, because if the jamming is ineffective and the drone is in the sector at a lesser distance, we will be at a distance of 60 to 100 meters, we can neutralise the drone and remove it from the sky." ANTI-DRONE POLICE INSIGNIA POLICE HOLDING "WATSON" JAMMING RIFFLE COUNTER-DRONE FORCES DURING EXERCISE
- Embargoed: 28th March 2024 15:02
- Keywords: Drone attacks Olympics Paris 2024 anti-drone counter-drone drones
- Location: VILLACOUBLAY, FRANCE
- City: VILLACOUBLAY, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Europe,Olympics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001803414032024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Security is the Paris 2024 Olympics' hottest topic and France intends to leave no stone unturned as it prepares to ensure public safety during the Games with the help of anti-drone units.
The military base of Villacoublay just outside Paris will be the home of an anti-drone coordination centre where police, gendarmerie and army officers will work hand in hand to contain the threat posed by drones.
"Drones can be used to carry out a protest or with a terrorist intent," General Arnaud Bourguignon, in charge of air and anti-drone protection for the Games, told reporters on Thursday (March 14).
Officers will monitor air traffic during the Games and will be able to identify drones, either with radar or pictures sent by officers on the ground at the Olympic sites.
Some of the drones will be identified as "friends," while others will be neutralised.
Officers will use one of the 15 heavy anti-drone units, which feature a radar, cameras and a jamming antenna, and can neutralise a drone kilometres away.
At their disposal will also be anti-drone rifles, which scramble the radio signal of a drone or take them down by laser.
Although France has never been subject to a drone-led attack, the country was the target of Islamist attacks which involved a simultaneous assault by gunmen and suicide bombers on entertainment venues and cafes in Paris in November 2015.
The Olympics will be held in the capital from July 26-Aug 11.
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