1 in 10 Infrastructure Operators Lack Counter-Drone Plans According To DroneShield Report.
1 in 10 Infrastructure Operators Lack Counter-Drone Plans – A new DroneShield report has found that around 1 in 10 airport and critical infrastructure operators in Australia and comparable markets have no formal plan for managing drone threats.
The study also revealed 60 per cent of respondents believe they lack the legal authority to take direct mitigation action against unauthorised drones, even when the threat to safety is clear and immediate.
The report, Airspace Under Pressure, draws on survey responses from more than 20 operators across airports, ports, corrections and other critical infrastructure sectors globally.
According to the findings, 17 per cent of respondents have no defined counter-UAS plan, meaning they would be responding to a drone incident for the first time during the event itself.
This represents a clear operational risk. Without established procedures, escalation pathways or baseline situational awareness, response to a drone incident becomes reactive and unpredictable.
Detection capability is also identified as a major gap, with 70 per cent of respondents citing limitations in their ability to detect and track unauthorised drones. Legal and regulatory constraints remain a further barrier, with 60 per cent of operators indicating they lack authority to take direct mitigation action when a threat is identified.
The report highlights a disconnect between intent and capability. While 57 per cent of organisations have defined objectives covering awareness, detection, tracking and response, a smaller proportion have systems and authority aligned to execute those objectives in real time.
A further 13 per cent of respondents are detection-focused only, while another 13 per cent operate at awareness level without integrated capability.
DroneShield says the key issue is no longer recognition of the threat, but the ability to act.
“The primary counter-UAS challenge is not awareness of the threat; it is the capacity to convert awareness into authorised, coordinated, real-time action,” said Tom Adams, director of public safety at DroneShield.
You can find the Airspace Under Pressure report here – there’s more SEN news here.
“1 in 10 Infrastructure Operators Lack Counter-Drone Plans According To DroneShield Report.”
