North East business leads the way with advanced drone capture system

A business based in the North East has launched a pioneering defence system that’s capable of shooting drones out of the sky — the first of its kind in the world.

OpenWorks Engineering, based in Stocksfield, Northumberland, is about to release a vehicle-mounted drone capture system, known as the SkyWall Auto Response.

A high-tech product company that specialises in counter-terror systems, OpenWorks first lead the way when it released a handheld drone capture system, the SkyWall100, back in 2016. They have since delivered systems to law enforcement and military customers around the world.

Their latest system uses OpenWorks’ operationally proven net technology to capture and bring down drones, with the added mobility of a commercial vehicle. It has already been tested and proven at high-profile military evaluations and can capture fast moving multi-rotor (quad) or fixed-wing drones with ease.

The system will offer government authorities and private security organisations the capability to protect the public, prisons, and critical national infrastructure from the threats posed by commercially available drones.

Chris Down, managing director of OpenWorks Engineering, said: “We are delighted to be the first security and counter-terrorism specialist to be able to bring a product of this quality to the global market. Offering a vehicle response unit is something we have planned for some time now and is something our customers tell us they need.”

The company already has a number of other products in the pipeline. Mr Down added: “Our dedicated team of engineers is developing our technology portfolio further, and we hope to make more significant product development announcements soon.”

The company expects the first operational deployments of SkyWall Auto Response to be ready in the coming months. The SkyWall Auto Response system will be officially launched at DSEI 2019 — the world-leading defence and security event in London — on 10–13 September.