For the Paris Olympic Games, the national gendarmerie will deploy the SéSé device in its helicopters. This is capable of capturing Wi-Fi signals from drones to know their position. This should prevent helicopters from an aerial collision.
400,000 drones in 2017, 2.5 million in 2021. It’s an understatement to say that the drone market in France has greatly exploded. Even though recreational drone pilots have very specific rules to follow, they are sometimes broken. And, in general, the skies are now relatively crowded, especially at low altitudes.
It is in this context that the General Directorate of Armaments confirmed on Monday April 8, 2024 the deployment of the SéSé system (acronym for Electronic Signaling Listening System). Its principle? Detect Wi-Fi signals emitted by drones to know their real-time position in the surrounding area.
Indeed, ” Drones represent a real and growing threat to aviation safety, particularly due to the risk of collision with aircraft. » This is true for civilian vehicles operating in the lower layers of the atmosphere, it is also true for military vehicles during their operations.
Ten helicopters equipped for the Paris Olympics
A device like SéSé will be of particular interest to helicopters, which often operate at a few hundred meters altitude. Moreover, we will find it in action during the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, because ten helicopters from the national gendarmerie will be equipped to carry out air security missions.
The Electronic Signaling Listening System, whose genesis dates back to 2020 within the DGA Flight Tests innovation laboratory, benefits from a favorable legislative landscape. In fact, the signaling of these devices became obligatory the same year. The requirement was then to attach a Wi-Fi beacon to drones weighing more than 800 g.
Since then, the threshold has been lowered to 250 g, under the influence of a 2021 European regulation. The DGA also confirms that all civil drones of this size (and more) “ must broadcast their position and an identification number, such as a virtual license plate, over Wi-Fi to be directly detectable by law enforcement. »
The range of Wi-Fi, depending on the generation of the standard, reaches a few hundred meters outdoors.
The amount of a SéSé device is not specified, but the DGA describes it as a “ low cost solution “. She is too ” easy to use ” And ” quickly [déployable] on a fleet of helicopters “. We guess that the system will be retained beyond the Olympics and the Paralympic Games, which will end at the beginning of September 2024.
The management of drones during the Olympic Games constitutes one of the major points in securing the Olympic Games, along with the fight against cyberattacks and online interference. Aside from SéSé, other means are planned, including offensive means to blind or burn unmanned aircraft, or to intercept them with dedicated drones.
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