Kelvin Hughes launching counter-drone system

March 7 (UPI) -- Britain's Kelvin Hughes is launching a drone detection and tracking system based on its SharpEye X-Band radar receiver technology.

The new system, called SMS-D, provides continuously updated bearing, distance, altitude and velocity data.

It identifies targets automatically through its video tracking system, ensuring that any remedial or defensive action can be quickly implemented.

"We're very much looking forward to the official launch of the SMS-D," Jonathan Field, Security Systems and Sensors director for Kelvin Hughes, said in a press release. "The first of its kind, the system is a fully integrated package of radar and electro-optic sensors and software providing a sophisticated yet highly cost-effective response to the increasing threat of drone incursion."

The system is being launched later this week at a security and policing exhibition in Britain.

Kelvin Hughes said the SMS-D is the first integrated, medium-range, radar-based surveillance system designed for the detection and tracking of small aerial targets at a distance of nearly one mile.

The system can be attached to a permanent structure or mounted on a vehicle, and is designed for a combination of radar, optical and thermal imaging devices to allow for full surveillance of any perimeter or border.