British police are being trained to use bazookas in case that a copycat offender strikes. The move is a repercussion after hundreds of thousands of passengers were stranded at the airport after a series of drones were allegedly flown into the airspace earlier last week.
The Metropolitan police service are working at nearby Heathrow airport to test out the bazookas, which are launched by being placed on the shoulder. The weaponry is capable of catching a drone that is 130 yards away and operates by launching a net into the sky at high speed.
Government chiefs have approved of training police to use the Skywall 100 system, which would ordinarily be used for a civil drone threat. OpenWorks Engineering, the company behind Skywall 100, said their equipment is designed to include a parachute, meaning a drone can be brought back to the ground safely, in order to be able to analyze it for evidence.
Openworks promotional material states: "The best way to neutralize a drone is to physically intercept it. This neutralizes any type of drone, whether flown manually or autonomously."
It’s estimated around 140,000 people suffered canceled or delayed flights following almost 70 reported sightings of a drone at Gatwick. The airport shut its runways as a safety measure for 36 hours.
and turns out they are in doubt if therebwas drone activity..
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-46665615
Heard about the story in the TV news, couldn't even understand whether they actually confirmed drone presence or not, the whole story is kinda ridiculous...
Worse still, the tabloid press were naming and showing pictures of the 2 'suspects' even a photo of the guy's van with phone number on it.
They were released and the same tabloid was up in arms about an innocent couple being arrested.
Now reports it was probably 3 red lights on top of nearby contraction site cranes?
Give me strength. The UK has become a total shambles.
I said to my wife earlier in the week “I bet there wasn’t even a drone” now today’s headlines, ‘arrested couple released after 36 hours’ ‘may never have been a drone’. I am not that into conspiracy theories but I bet they pass a law soon, they don’t want ordinary citizens having drones, too much power or risk during civil unrest. Where are the Gatwick authorities now?
This is how regulations are born.
130 yards isn't really an effective range in Air Defense Artillery, it's more of a joke. All you need is a high explosive round with a proximity fuze. And really, calling this contraption a bazooka? It's a toy, and probably a really expensive one at that. Oh and since there apparently no drones...I hope someone gets sacked over this
So sack someone when anything goes wrong? Seriously
Man, I want one of those