Germany grants BVLOS approval to Securitas for critical infrastructure protection by drone

Security specialist Securitas has received approval from the national civil aviation authority for fully automated drone operations and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights in Germany. Securitas Air Control flights will offer critical infrastructure protection.

The approval enables Securitas to “completely rethink perimeter protection” said Marcel Scheinfeld, regional head of Commercial & Solutions at Securitas GmbH in a post on LinkedIn. “Time-consuming patrols, particularly those in rough terrain, can now be dispensed with and technically replaced by these flights, with a high level of security.”

The drones are equipped with a variety of sensors, including high-resolution cameras, thermal imaging cameras and laser rangefinders. These technologies are designed to enable the drones to detect people, vehicles and other objects such as licence plates even in difficult conditions such as poor visibility or total darkness. They can also communicate with people via integrated loudspeaker systems using live offender speech and provide visibility in dark areas using headlights.

The uncrewed systems take off and land autonomously from drone hangars, which also serve as maintenance and charging stations. Flight operations are monitored by an operator regardless of location. For example, a flight over Hamburg may be monitored by an operator in Munich. 

U-ROB GmbH has provided technical support to Securitas for the project.