Dedrone, a global leader in airspace security, has announced the launch of DedroneBeyond, its solution to enable drone operations to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) for state, local, territorial and tribal law enforcement and emergency services when deploying drone as first responders (DFR).
“Powered by the same computer-vision-enabled, sensor-fusion AI that currently protects over 500 sites around the world, DedroneBeyond delivers complete situational awareness for safe drone navigation through the airspace,” the company says.
“Drones can provide more than just a birds-eye view of a situation; they can arrive at a scene faster than humans and then enable assessment of an emerging incident to provide critical information for law enforcement and first responders to make better decisions before sending in personnel. Today, this potential is hampered by the need to always have human eyes on a drone,” said Aaditya Devarakonda, CEO of Dedrone. “DedroneBeyond unlocks that potential and makes it easier for law enforcement across the country to implement scalable DFR programs. DedroneBeyond is a natural extension for Dedrone, leveraging the company’s deep knowledge and technology foundation for aircraft detection and multi-sensor fusion, to further expand its global leadership in airspace security.”
American law enforcement agencies seeking to fly drones BVLOS must have a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certificate of authorization (COA). To acquire a COA, an agency must show that its technology can reliably detect other aircraft to prevent mid-air collisions. DedroneBeyond layers Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS–B) detection into its existing detection and sensor-fusion technologies. Dedrone says it anticipates working with its pilot partners in the fourth quarter of 2023 and first quarter of 2024 to submit applications for COAs.
"Embracing innovation is at the core of our mission to enhance public safety. Our partnership with Dedrone and the evaluation of the DedroneBeyond solution represents a crucial step towards strengthening our DFR program,” said Michael J. Bouchard, sheriff of Oakland County, Michigan. “This collaboration opens the door to exploring BVLOS operations, offering the potential to transform the way we respond to emergencies and keep our community safe."
DedroneBeyond joins Dedrone’s suite of smart airspace security solutions, all of which leverage DedroneTracker.AI, the company’s command and control (C2) airspace security platform. With sophisticated AI models, the platform performs true sensor fusion to accurately monitor a drone’s flight path and behavior, Dedrone says.
Dedrone additionally offers C2 capability across every kind of setting depending on customer needs, including DedroneCityWide, for zero-install drone detection and monitoring across wide areas, DedroneFixedSite, drone detection for critical infrastructure locations and mobile kits designed for specific situations; and DedroneTactical for agile expeditionary environments and DedroneRapidResponse for mobile drone detection.
DedroneCityWide has expanded to over 50 cities in the United States and abroad, including Foxborough, MA; Honolulu, HI; Salt Lake City, UT; Jersey City, NJ; San Antonio, TX; Newark, NJ; Pittsburgh, PA and Indianapolis, IN. Dedrone is now able to offer protection from the threat of drones to over 50% of the U.S. population. The company actively provides counterdrone solutions for some of the most high-profile events around the world, working closely with over 120 public safety agencies globally.
About Dedrone
Hundreds of commercial, government, and military customers around the world rely on Dedrone’s comprehensive, command and control (C2) solution to protect against the persistent and escalating threat from drones while enabling “good” drones to fly. By leveraging AI and/or machine learning, Dedrone provides continuous, autonomous interrogation and verification of drones that enables both multi-sensor and multi-mitigation options onto a single fused "pane-of-glass". Dedrone is headquartered just outside of Washington, D.C.