• Widely democratized, commercial drones can pose a threat.

  • They are sometimes used for intelligence or to carry an explosive charge.

  • A northern company is developing jamming systems for commercial drones used by the army and police forces.

While it has been more than a month since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine, the activities of MC2 Technologies have never been so topical.

Based in Villeneuve d'Ascq, near Lille, in the North, the company specializes in the design of devices to neutralize most drones on the market.

High-tech war material already used by several French operational forces.

If MC2 was not born yesterday, it has nevertheless greatly developed over the past few years.

Basically, the company worked to develop the components of the future around micro and nanotechnologies in the fields of defence, security and telecommunications.

It was in 2015 that MC2 started designing off-the-shelf solutions, still in its favorite areas, such as body scanners and drone jammers.

"The idea is really to focus on commercial drones which can pose various threats and whose cost remains quite low, unlike military drones", explains Paul Philippart, commercial director at MC2.

Drones used by Russians in Ukraine for tracking

We have seen that such devices, often under the 1,000 euro mark, could indeed be used to carry out attacks.

Two French soldiers were injured in 2016, in Iraq, by a drone sent by the Islamic State.

Much more recently, the Ukrainian government accused the Russian army of using drones from the Chinese manufacturer DJI to scout areas before firing missiles.

For its part, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has encouraged amateur drone pilots in the kyiv region to make themselves available to the army to spot Russian soldiers.

“These are threats taken very seriously, to such an extent that all French army corps and operational forces such as the Raid are equipped with our anti-drone systems,” he continues.

Whether in external operations,

MC2's latest product, the Nerod RF, looks like a futuristic rifle.

“It jams the communication system between the drone and its radio control on 7 frequencies.

Deprived of communication, the device stops and ends up landing or returning to its base depending on the configuration,” explains Paul Philippart.

In the latter case, the Nerod RF also provides GPS jamming which can prevent this eventuality.

MC2 is also developing a millimetric radar, capable of spotting the smallest drones, and a radio frequency listening system to go back to the radio control and find the person responsible for the threat.

To date, like the GPS in its time, the sale of these devices considered as war material is reserved for States only.

No need to contact MC2 if your neighbor tends to fly his hobby drone over your garden.

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  • high tech

  • Lille

  • Drone

  • Hauts-de-France

  • Terrorism

  • War