A few weeks after the announcement of their strategic partnership at the MilipolParis Show, French RF drone detector company CERBAIR and French electromagnetic interference specialist KEAS have won a contract for “the acquisition and maintenance of a solution for the detection, characterization and neutralization of drones (DCND) in penitentiary establishments located in metropolitan France metropolitan and overseas”.
According to a company press statement:
“This contract should allow CERBAIR and KEAS to equip several dozen French prisons over an initial period of twice a year (renewable twice without exceeding four years) in addition to the fifteen prisons previously provided. This contract has two important aspects in the eyes of the Directorate of the Prison Administration: a technological challenge (installing a device without interference with the existing system) and a security issue.”
“Since 2018 the drone threat has been very seriously taken into account on all settlements, whether they are high-security quarters, central prisons or remand prisons,” says Antoine Pau, project manager for defence against drones at the Ministry of Justice.
Deliveries of narcotics, illicit equipment (SIM cards, weapons and so on) via drone are a growing problem. Last November, CERBAIR/KEAS’ anti-drone solution installed during a previous contract made it possible to thwart the overflight of a metropolitan prison, with the drone forced to make a U-turn.
“While in the overseas territories, during December 2021, a dozen overflight attempts were detected over the main prison of the island,” says the press statement. “The drone was unable to reach the walls of the compound….Actively collaborating with the SGDSN and the IGN, the prison administration also welcomes the fact that it is no longer possible to fly over a prison pretending not to know it. As proof, information notices are now part of any new drone purchased commercially since January 1, 2022,” says the statement.
The agreement between KEAS – which since 2005 has delivered specialist services in mobile communications jamming in prisons – and CERBAIR – with its ULTimate Recognition Algorithm (ULTRA) have given the companies a strong market position, says the statement.
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