Tallinn to test system distinguishing authorized and unknown drones
Tallinn municipality, together with HexTech Solutions, launches a pilot project to integrate drone radars with a flight map, enabling quick identification of legal and unknown drones in the city's airspace.
Tallinn is launching a pilot project aimed at providing a faster and more transparent overview of drone traffic in the city's airspace. Under the Tallinnovation program, HexTech Solutions is developing a test solution that will, for the first time, combine data on drones from two different systems into a single entity. The project will integrate HexTech's drone detection radar with the Estonian Air Navigation Services (EANS UTM) drone flight map.
The solution will display both planned and real-time drone flights in one interface. This will enable city and state authorities to quickly determine whether a drone in the air is operating legally or is an unknown object. Currently, assessing drone incidents requires using several separate systems, complicating response, requiring more time, and increasing false alarms. The new solution will reduce such situations and allow faster allocation of resources to address real risks.
City officials noted the project's practical value. Response efficiency will increase as decisions can be made faster and based on more accurate information; patrol services will have a reduced workload since primarily drones with undetermined status will need checking. Additionally, trust between drone operators and the state will grow, as registered flights will be immediately recognized. This will create additional motivation for operators to correctly register their flights and help raise awareness about safe and responsible drone use in the city.
The pilot project will create a test environment where the solution's functionality and usage logic will be evaluated without using real personal data. This allows safe testing of the technology and assessment of legal prerequisites for wider implementation. HexTech Solutions encourages pilots to register their flights on the EANS UTM platform, or the Estonian drone map. This will increase transparency of flight activities, promote safety, and help resolve incidents faster.
The project is a step toward making urban air traffic more transparent, safe, and manageable. Upon completion, an analysis and recommendations will be prepared on whether to implement the solution permanently in Tallinn and how best to do so.
