A speaker at the Brisbane Safe Cities Conference in Australia selected to single out drones as a serious risk – however it may need been to promote his group’s anti-drone know-how.
Keith Mollison, a defence contractor and product supervisor at Australian-based EPE, spoke at the annual Safe Cities convention on the “significant hazards to public safety” posed by drones. “The spectrum of improper and illegal use of drones, even inadvertently, ranges from mischief to mayhem to protest, even acts of terror,” stated Mollison.
In his discuss, Mollison emphasised the usage of drones by criminals to ship contraband in prisons and the potential of terrorist risk from drones. “The use of drones by terrorist organisations is spreading at an alarming rate,” he stated.
But whereas the Australian press has picked up the story by way of the upcoming hazard going through residents from drones, Mollison seems to have been presenting the case for his firm’s anti-drone resolution, the “Mesmer Counter.” Mollison’s firm, EPE, supplies protecting army and civil options towards quite a few sorts of threats. The Mesmer Counter is a software program resolution that may detect and take management of rogue drones; EPE additionally sells three completely different UAS options.
The Mesmer Counter could certainly show a great tool for some areas, and Mollison clearly labeled his discuss with the title of the machine. But the premise that drones trigger an pressing and fast risk to cities was the purpose taken up instantly by a variety of publications, that includes headlines like “Drones Present a Threat to Cities, Expert Warns…”
Combined with one other Australian headline seen right now – a lightweight airplane operator who suspects drone could have collided together with his airplane – Australia’s drone business could have an rising PR downside. If cities change into satisfied that drones pose an actual risk to residents, Australian operators may face higher restrictions and native regulatios.
