Andrea Leadsom, the Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire, has welcomed the news that a South Northamptonshire company – Enterprise Control Systems (ECS) of Wappenham – was closely involved in the operation to restore order in the skies above Gatwick last month through the deployment of one of its Anti Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Defence Systems (AUDS).
ECS has formed a consortium with two other British SMEs – Blighter Surveillance Systems of Great Chesterford and Chess Dynamics of Horsham – which leads the world in counter-drone technology, and their solutions are used by governments globally including UK, US, France, Japan, and South Korea. The US Department of Defence has used the AUDS system in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2016.
Andrea said:
“The scenes at Gatwick airport last month, as many people were trying to return home to loved ones for Christmas, were deeply troubling, and it was entirely right that the Government mobilised the resources needed to resolve the situation that had brought air traffic over London to a halt.
“I was pleased to have opened ECS’s factory in Wappenham some years ago, and I was delighted when their CEO – Colin Bullock – got in touch with my office in December to let me know that his company had been called out to Gatwick to sort out the airport’s drone problem.
“Another example of fantastic British technological innovation leading the pack!”
Colin said:
“Within an hour of being contacted, ECS had dispatched a complete AUDS system for use at Gatwick.
“With Gatwick purchasing two AUDS systems and Heathrow also placing an order, I am pleased and proud that UK cutting edge technology had finally been recognised and deployed on home territory.”
