Based on its recent analysis of the North America counter-drone solutions market, Frost & Sullivan has recognized D-Fend Solutions with the 2018 North America Enabling Technology Leadership Award for developing the EnforceAir — an end-to-end counter-drone solution.
D-Fend is unique in its reliance on autonomous software-defined radio (SDR) technology to passively detect and differentiate friendly drones from rogue ones, even at unprecedented distances of up to two miles. Once identified as a rogue drone, D-Fend takes over the communication link between the drone and its operator, flying it via a safe route to land it safely at a designated, pre-configured secure landing spot.
The EnforceAir system does not rely on jamming, kinetic counter-measurements, nor does it require a clear line of sight to detect and mitigate hostile drones, making it uniquely suited for urban environments.
“D-Fend’s EnforceAir solution has the unique capability to locate a drone passively, solely on the communication between the drone and its remote control. Once it generates the drone’s global position system (GPS) coordinates, an identification process is set in motion to separate a legitimate drone from non-sanctioned ones, i.e., identification, friend-foe; the latter are then dealt with according to D-Fend’s protocol,” said Michael Blades, research director at Frost & Sullivan.
“EnforceAir forensically extracts the digital signature of the non-sanctioned drone to verify the drone and its home location GPS coordinates, which it can then share with law enforcement agencies, if necessary. This ability to differentiate and mitigate drones safely in an urban environment is EnforceAir’s main differentiator among other counter-drones solutions.”
EnforceAir can operate either as a mobile or stationary solution, depending on the client’s needs.
“D-Fend gives clients access to the signature of signals of the majority of drones commercially and do-it-yourself drones available today,” noted Blades. “The service can function analogically to anti-virus software, which gets automatically updated when new drones enter the market.”
For forging new paths in the North America counter-drone market with its futuristic EnforceAir counter-drone solution, D-Fend is richly deserving of Frost & Sullivan’s 2018 North America Enabling Technology Leadership Award.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that develops a pioneering technology that not only enhances current products but also enables the development of new products and applications. The award recognizes the high market acceptance potential of the recipient’s technology.
Frost & Sullivan best practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
