Let’s ask the experts;
Answer (1 of 2): Yes they can. If you are talking about one of the sort of drones i worked on the Elbit Hermes 450 / UK Watchkeeper then its a yes. Drones of this sort are the same size and shape and speeds of a light aircraft to micolite and they are also fitted with IFF. I also worked on the...
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Yes they can.
If you are talking about one of the sort of drones i worked on the Elbit Hermes 450 / UK Watchkeeper then its a yes.
Drones of this sort are the same size and shape and speeds of a light aircraft to micolite and they are also fitted with IFF.
I also worked on the UK E3D AWACS and i currently have a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone.
The AWACS radar WILL detect these drones.
They have a mass of just under 1Kg and have a lot of metal in them.
However it is unlikely that in normal operation that a track will be initiated on them, as such the Operator will not see it.
The return signal is there but low.
It sould only be flying at hights of less than 400ft above ground level.
My drone has a speed of upto 40mph.
The radar has software with filters that are designed to reture ground clutter over land and water. This stops the thing reporting cars trains and other vehicles. It also has speed gate filters and at 40mph speed difference to its background it will also be filtered out.
However, i said normal operation !
The primary radar filters can be altered.
Likewise AWACS has ESM systems.
These detect classify and if needed track opejects based on radio emissions.
This kit also has filters and in normal operation its set to ignor things like mobile phones and wifi and the like.
So, in normal operation an AWACS in Lincolnshire flying over its base at RAF Waddington at its normal hight of 29,000 ft will detect my drone being flown over my flat some 60 miles away in a stright line.
However it will not start a track or alert an operator.
BUT if they wanted to track drones in the area i like they can reset whats reported to a controller for my general area and the Drone WILL be reported:
Flying
Emitted DJI control link.
But it will also report or other drones and other clutter in the area and if i put the drone in a hover then the track will drop.
So if you sent an E3D up with a request to find out if drones are being flown in an area then yes they can do it.
But its not some thing they normally do and its not an easy thing to do
Also there are plenty of systems out there that can detect carbon fibre small drones.
As drones become more commonplace, the need to secure facilities from the high-definition cameras and potential dangerous payloads has caused a rapid growth of counter-drone technologies.
www.aerodefensetech.com