Airport Drone Detection

No. The FAA restricts drone flight in the controlled airspace around airports, and operating an unauthorized drone near an airport is illegal and can carry significant federal penalties, including fines and criminal charges. Recreational and commercial operators must obtain authorization (for example, through LAANC) to fly in controlled airspace. AirSight helps airports identify unauthorized flights that ignore these rules and pinpoint the operator's location.

A drone flying near an airport puts aircraft, passengers, and operations at risk. Even a single unauthorized drone can force a ground stop, divert flights, and create a near-midair-collision hazard — drones were involved in nearly two-thirds of near-miss reports at the top 30 U.S. airports in 2023. High-profile disruptions at airports worldwide have stranded thousands of passengers and cost airlines millions. Because ground radar is built for aircraft rather than small UAS, most airports cannot see these drones without a dedicated detection system, which is the gap AirGuard fills.

An airport drone detection system is a network of sensors and software that monitors the airspace around an airport for unauthorized drones, classifies them, and alerts security teams and air traffic control in real time. AirGuard layers multiple sensor types — Remote ID, RF and Directional RF detection, radar, acoustic sensors, and PTZ camera verification — to catch both signal-emitting and "dark" drones across runways, terminals, and the perimeter. Because it is built on an open architecture, airports aren't locked into one vendor: it integrates best-in-class hardware from partners such as Echodyne, Fortem, Axis, and FLIR, delivering each drone's make, model, speed, altitude, and GPS location plus the pilot's live position from a single interface.

Yes. AirGuard fuses live ADS-B data, which broadcasts the position of crewed airplanes and helicopters, directly into its map, so the platform can separate authorized aircraft from unauthorized drones and help prevent mid-air collisions. On the radar side, AI-powered classification further differentiates drones from birds, aircraft, and environmental clutter. In a busy airport environment this reduces false alarms and lets security teams and ATC focus on genuine drone threats.

AirGuard issues real-time alerts via pop-up, email, and SMS the moment a drone enters a defined alert zone. Security teams immediately see the drone's flight path and the pilot's live GPS location, while PTZ cameras provide on-demand visual confirmation. The platform can also push live threat data into Real-Time Crime Center and Emergency Operations Center dashboards, enabling a coordinated response with airport operations and law enforcement — without unnecessarily halting flights across the entire field.

AirSight's detection-only solutions align with FAA regulations and support DHS and TSA guidance. Detection — monitoring and identifying drones in your airspace — is legal for any facility. Mitigation, such as jamming or disabling a drone, is federally restricted to specific authorized agencies, which is why AirGuard focuses on detection, tracking, and actionable intelligence to support a lawful response.

Airsight acts as a vendor-neutral validator rather than a single-hardware reseller. The company purchases and stress-tests detection equipment from global vendors at its Dallas headquarters and dedicated test sites, integrating only the technology that proves reliable into the AirGuard platform. This open-architecture approach eliminates single-vendor lock-in, lets each airport deploy best-in-class sensors suited to its environment, and is backed by a 24/7 expert monitoring team that verifies alerts so teams respond only to confirmed threats.