Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) drones have transformed many industries and made a positive impact, providing convenient, versatile and cost-effective solutions for a variety of applications. Here, we will take you to a deeper understanding of COTS drones.
What Are COTS Drones?
COTS drones are ready-to-use drones that are commercially available to the general public. Unlike custom-built drones, COTS drones are mass-produced and designed for immediate use, requiring minimal assembly or specialized knowledge. They are widely available from various manufacturers and can be purchased through retail stores or online platforms.
Main Features of COTS Drones
COTS Drones are all-in-one drones. Mass production and standardized components make them more affordable and usable for most people.
Therefore, the main features of COTS Drones are affordability, ease of use, high usability and versatile applications.
These characteristics of COTS Drones also determine that drones can be quickly acquired and deployed, and can be used for a range of applications from recreational use to professional missions. But at the same time, cheap commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) drones also provide attackers with low-cost capabilities. Attack drones are threatening the personal and property safety of the country and the people.
How to regulate illegal COTS drones?
COTS drones are developing rapidly, with low-cost benefits and high-tech integration, and have scalable functions, which can easily become the target of illegal elements. It is of utmost importance to properly regulate drones, discover security vulnerabilities, and prevent COTS drones from being used for illegal activities.
The challenge of regulating COTS drones is how to identify the existence of non-cooperative rogue drones in detection restricted areas. It is very difficult to distinguish between correct consumer drones and illegal surveillance drones.
This requires national and regional drone regulations and anti-drone systems to work together.
First, the FAA generally stipulates that American drones:
- Do not fly over crowds
- Do not fly above 400 feet
- Do not fly near airports
- Fly at night with lights on
- Drones above 250g need to be registered
- Drones need to obtain remote IDs
- Commercial drones require pilot licenses
At the same time, some drone manufacturers will set drone restricted areas, prohibiting drones from taking off in the area, which is also protecting drones to a certain extent.
C-UAS is a protective measure against illegal drones, trying to avoid conflicts and harm caused by drones. A complete anti-drone system includes identification, jamming, deception and targeted strikes against illegal drones.
Skyfend provides safe and effective anti-drone measures and manufactures a variety of anti-drone equipment. It has advanced and unique technologies for drone identification, drone jamming, drone deception, tracking drone remote ID signals, locating drone pilots, etc., which can provide favorable guarantees for airports, prisons, stadiums, infrastructure and other places.
