Contingency Clarification Protocols for Reliable Counter-Drone Operation

Counter-drone technology plays a vital role in protecting airspace against unwanted and malicious drones. Counter-drone systems increasingly rely on unmanned traffic management services, such as remote identification and flight authorization enforcement, for the detection and mitigation of unauthorized activities on the part of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These services support automated drone identification and verification of the drone activity's compliance before taking any enforcement action. Available drone identification standards, such as ASTM F3411-22 for drone remote identification (DRI), specify key requirements for entities involved in UAV operations. However, DRI systems can fail for many technical and nontechnical reasons related to the drone itself, its operator, the identification system, other involved service suppliers, or the communication between these actors. On the other hand, experience has shown that even licensed drone operators can violate permitted flight parameters mistakenly or for unavoidable reasons. In such contingency situations, the counter-drone system should perform additional checks and interact with relevant agents before classifying the drone as illegal and taking action against it. This article presents a set of protocols to formalize the interaction between the counter-drone system and relevant agents to clarify possible failures and violations. The goal is to complement current DRI systems mitigating the effect of erroneous drone identification and supporting reliable decision-making. The simulation of worst-case scenarios shows that executing the clarification protocols takes just a few seconds, and this delay is only notable in situations where immediate action is required to neutralize illegal drones.