A Confusing Conversation

There have been many industry discussions recently about remote ID for small, unmanned aerial systems (sUASs), following the passage of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) final rule on Remote ID.

Some of this dialogue has unfortunately been confusing, because similar terms are being used to describe very different concepts. For example: D-Fend Solutions was often asked in the past whether we could positively identify drones in range of EnforceAir, our flagship counter-drone, radio frequency-based, cyber-takeover solution.

The ability to detect, locate and identify drones is an obvious requirement for a takeover system, so the customer can determine if detected drones are authorized and then mitigate rogue drones. One stage of our six-part drone incident lifecycle is entitled “Identify the Drone” and EnforceAir has proved it can detect, identify and mitigate multiple drones simultaneously.

While this customer need has stayed the same, the term being used by our customers has changed. Following the final rule passage, now everyone is asking whether D-Fend Solutions supports Remote ID.

D-Fend Does…

As recently pointed out by people in the market, there is no way for anyone to officially support the Remote ID rule, because there are currently placeholders for future mechanisms that must be approved by the regulator. This will affect how a manufacturer complies with the performance requirements for a Standard Remote ID Drone (“means of compliance”).

But D-Fend Solutions’ C-sUAS already provides what is needed, namely the ability to detect, locate and identify drones in the area from afar. The Remote ID rule stipulates that drones – many, but not all – will be required to transmit details on their identity and location via an open, non-proprietary communication channel. D-Fend Solutions currently goes way beyond what would be available once the rule is finally in effect. Additionally, the data transmitted by the drone under the Remote ID rule will likely be added to the many layers of information D-Fend creates within our system. Saying “D-Fend Solutions is Remote ID ready” is a short way to describe all of the above. But there’s more…

My next blog post will look at five limitations of the final rule, as well as how EnforceAir will help our customers stay protected despite these issues.