During CES 2021, French drone manufacturer Icarus Swarms announced a new UAS product line targeting security and emergency first-response industries.

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Icarus officials hope the new technology will “transform” military and police strategies in responding to emergency situations through the use of swarms of up to 50 autonomous drones (Picture source: Icarus Swarms)

A company spokesperson says the new line is “based on a pioneering technology that uses intelligent routing algorithms and microdrons coordinated in a swarm”.

Icarus officials hope the new technology will “transform” military and police strategies in responding to emergency situations through the use of swarms of up to 50 autonomous drones.

“This allows the drones to act as active aids for the emergency services without distracting their attention and workforce,” says a press release from Icarus. “The use of commercial drones for our drone swarms makes this technology particularly affordable and could therefore be replicated and used by a large number of professionals.”

The possibilities of this technology are limitless as sensors can be added to the drones to fulfill specific requirements, including infrared projectors, radioactive detectors, audio speakers, radio jammers, pyrotechnics, thermic cameras etc. For instance, drones fitted with radioactivity sensors can detect dirty bomb threats at events where large crowds are gathered such as the Olympic games or to assess very quickly (less than twenty minutes) the radioactivity levels after an explosion to ensure it is safe for the emergency services to begin operations.

The addition of infrared lights to the drones can make the drone swarms very useful during concealed military operations at night: the advancing military units equipped with night vision goggles are able to see clearly as the drones fully illuminate the area with infrared lights while the terrain remains completely dark for the enemy.

"We believe this technology has the power to make our responses in emergency situations more efficient and look forward to developing and adapting it along with our partners in the military and response forces."

“It has been a long and exciting journey to develop this product. We are convinced that it is just the very beginning and we have only scratched the surface – drone swarms are definitely a disruptive technology” says Jean-Dominique Lauwereins, co-founder and CTO of Icarus Swarms.