Polish companies Asseco and Play, together with Ericsson and infrastructure company Cellnex, are developing a system designed to detect and track low-flying drones, according to Polish outlet WNP.
A key part of the system is Ericsson’s Integrated Sensing and Communication, or ISAC, technology, which uses mobile network radio signals not only for communications but also to monitor the surrounding environment.
The principle is relatively simple: radio waves transmitted by a base station are reflected by objects moving through the air. Other base stations can detect changes in those signals and use them to estimate the size, speed and direction of a moving object.
According to Ericsson, ISAC can also detect objects that are not transmitting radio signals themselves or connected to the mobile network. The technology is being developed as part of 5G Advanced networks and future 6G systems.
In Poland, information gathered through the mobile network is set to be combined with data from acoustic, optical and thermal sensors. The information is then processed by Asseco’s Puszczyk system.
Grzegorz Bartler, vice president of Asseco Poland, said combining different detection methods is essential because no single sensor can reliably detect every type of drone in all conditions.
“No one of us alone would have been able to prepare such a comprehensive solution and develop it so quickly,” Bartler told WNP.
Cellnex operates around 18,000 base stations in Poland, which could make it easier to deploy the system over a wide area. Bartler said the use of the network for drone detection would not prevent it from continuing to handle normal mobile calls and data traffic.
The system was demonstrated in Kraków in October. According to Bartler, solutions ready for installation at customer sites should become available in 2027.
Similar technology has already been tested in Helsinki
The technology also has a direct connection to Finland.
Ericsson and Finland’s Erillisverkot tested ISAC technology in Helsinki in September, including a live trial at the Port of Vuosaari. The test used the mobile network to detect, locate and track drones in real time.
According to Erillisverkot, ISAC could in the future become one source of information feeding into a broader national situational awareness system. Its data could be combined with information from radars, cameras and radio-frequency sensors.
Finland is strengthening its drone detection capabilities more broadly as well. In October, the European Union granted Finland €32 million for the Finnish Border Guard to acquire new drone detection and counter-drone systems.
The investments are intended particularly for Finland’s eastern border and the Gulf of Finland and are expected to take place mainly between 2027 and 2029.