Le Havre startup Drone XTR wins the airport surveillance market

2023-12-18 17:33:00

It was one of the largest public contracts for civil drone detection ever launched in France. Needless to say, he was highly coveted. The Directorate of Air Navigation Services (DSNA) has just entrusted Le Havre Drone The company with only five employees won, for 5 years, this contract worth 7.2 million euros under the noses of Thales and Cerbair among others.

This victory of David once morest the Goliaths to use the formula used by the media Intelligence Online caused a bit of astonishment in the industry. “ We are a little thumb who makes noise », Comments with a smile his sales manager, Marin David, clearly not sorry to have succeeded in what he calls “ a real blow ».

“Our systems have proven themselves”

Little known to the general public, Drone XTR was founded in 2014 by Jean-François Adam with the support of a Le Havre businessman. Despite its small size, the startup has a solid track record in detecting unmanned flying vehicles. His solution low height air traffic control » today equips more than sixty sensitive private sites: industrial establishments, nuclear power plants, amusement parks, VIP residences…. « Its completely passive and undetectable system allows installation directly on site and is capable of detecting any irruption of a drone in an airspace, within a radius of 10 km », we boast within the cluster Normandie Aeroespace of which Drone XTR is an active member.

Among its references, we find in particular the coverage of the entire 10,000 hectares of the industrial zone of Le Havre. In 2023 alone, the company prides itself on having to its credit the identification of 150,000 drones in the French sky. “ Our systems have proven themselves, particularly in areas located close to the airports concerned. We can think that this reassured the DSNA », risque Marin David. “For some airports, we will only have to open access to our systems to provide drone flight information,” specifies Jean-François Adam echoing.

A 24-hour anti-collision device

It is now up to Drone XTR to deploy its sensors near the tarmacs. The company estimates that between 3 and 6 will be needed for each airport. depending on the length of the aircraft approach zone “. Once the antennas are installed, data concerning intrusions (serial number of the drone, time and GPS position of its takeoff, speed and flight perimeter, etc.) will be communicated in real time to air traffic control. And this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week thanks to the remote surveillance system of Seris Sécurité, co-contractor of the contract. All with the aim of preventing collisions with aircraft, which the proliferation of drones makes less and less hypothetical.

In the meantime, the startup’s phone lines often ring busy at the moment. “ Since we were selected, we have been approached by other airports in Asia and the Middle East in particular », points out his sales manager with relish. A way to position yourself on the runway.