Gryphon Sensors, which specializes in drone detection, demonstrated its Skylight system at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) from April 24-28.

A wide variety of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) were flown in an operational airport environment to test the capability of the system to detect, track, classify and display threats.

The Skylight system integrates a diverse sensor suite including primary radar, passive RF direction finding, and electro-optical and infrared cameras to perform its mission, company officials explain.

The evaluations were conducted as part of the FAA‘s Drone Detection Pathfinder Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) and were supported by several organizations, including: the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center, the FAA regional and headquarters teams, the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi UAS test site, and the DFW Airport.

The assessments were developed by the FAA and Texas test site to simulate realistic and challenging threats that might be present at a large airport. Flight operations were conducted at night on a closed runway over four consecutive nights under a variety of weather and visibility conditions.

“In 2016, the FAA received 1,800 reports from pilots of drones flying near airplanes and airports, up from 1,200 the year before,” said FAA Southwest Region’s Deputy Regional Administrator Michael O’Harr.

The data collected during these and other tests will be used to develop a UAS safety strategy for U.S. airports, including the generation of surveillance recommendations or requirements.

Gryphon Sensors is a contributor in several UAS-related programs including: NASA’s UAS Traffic Management (UTM), the FAA’s Drone Detection and BNSF Pathfinders, and UAS Secure Autonomous Flight Environment (U-SAFE).