Last August, The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) held a workshop on testing methodology for counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS). The participants have now agreed on the final draft of the CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA), which seeks to develop a standardised test methodology for UAS detection, tracking and identification systems to protect the lower airspace. It does not cover the neutralisation of drones. It is the aim that this standardised test methodology will lead to a much better understanding of the capabilities of C-UAS technology within the EU network of law enforcement agencies.
To create the CWA, 823 drone incidents from across the world have been analysed to identify trends and any gaps that should be filled to ensure a coherent and cohesive approach to the drone threat across EU member states.
The standardised test methodology is based upon a series of standard user-defined scenarios representing a wide set of use cases such as prison and airport security, critical infrastructure protection, border security, drugs and human trafficking. While these scenarios are geared towards civil use, the CWA document notes that “as the domain of counter-UAS is highly dual use-oriented, more military scenarios are certainly also highly relevant”.
The final draft of the CWA provides industry with insight into the operational needs and performance requirements of end users, to drive the design of the C-UAS solutions. It also sets out a standardised way of testing and communicating performance specifications and capabilities.
CEN says the integral test methodology proposed allows for a fair qualitative and quantitative comparison between different C-UAS technologies.
A public enquiry on the draft CWA is now open, closing on 28 August 2024. Comments can be submitted to the Workshop Secretariat Mrs. Cristina Popa using a commenting form. CEN says that the comments received will be considered by the workshop participants before its publication.
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European Committee for Standardisation
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