They deliver medicines to hospitals, inspect dikes and high-voltage pylons and assist emergency services with searches. Drones have quickly become indispensable. But at the same time they pose a potential danger in the airspace, including in North Holland. In the latest episode of NH Airtime, NH investigates: is the balance tipping towards progress, or towards additional risks?
The plans of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to reduce the drone no-fly zone around Schiphol cause concern among experts. This would allow flying to more places without requiring permission from air traffic control.
Pilots are concerned that the airspace around the airport will become less safe if more drones are allowed to fly without permission from Air Traffic Control. The drone team of the Amsterdam police unit fears that enforcement will become more difficult and that criminals will also be able to use drones more easily for illegal purposes.
But drones are also used in modern warfare. The North Holland company Trusk Technology develops software to remove so-called kamikaze drones from the air. These are often used in the war in Ukraine, among other things.
A team of young engineers is working on software that allows interceptor drones to automatically detect, track and disable enemy drones. The start-up recently received 350,000 euros from Innovation Fund North Holland.
The young engineers believe that their technology can also be used in the future to neutralize home-grown drones. “That is a bit further in the future, but the technology continues to advance,” says Caspar Lusink. “You see that many innovations come from defense and that they can actually become safer, cheaper and better. I think that will quickly spread to the commercial side.”
According to Lusink, the benefits of drones still outweigh the threats. “I think drone technology can solve a lot of problems. More innovation in general is a blessing. We need that to move forward as humanity and solve the problems we have.”