Restricted airspace has been applied over fifty defence sites and a further one hundred and seventy are expected to follow in December, part of a wider effort to harden British military bases against drones, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Mark Pritchard, the Conservative member for The Wrekin, asked what additional support is being given to Guardian, the protective security element of Standing Joint Command, in light of increased threats to British military bases.
Louise Sandher-Jones, Parliamentary Under-Secretary and Minister for the Armed Forces, said: “The Defence Investment Plan provides an additional £470 million over four years for security technology and infrastructure. Restricted Airspace has been applied to 50 Defence sites, with a further 170 expected in December 2026, while £15 million has been invested in remotely piloted and counter-uncrewed aerial systems and training over the past 18 months.”
Restricted airspace makes flying a drone over a site unlawful without permission. That does not stop anyone flying, but it gives the police and the Ministry of Defence Police an offence to act on, and it removes the argument that an operator did not know where they were.
The department has set out £240 million for Project PRESAGIUM, an enhanced counter-drone system intended to detect and defeat emerging threats, and the Army is running Project Halo Shield to examine what commercially available counter-drone technology could do for site protection. The £15 million figure for remotely piloted and counter-drone systems and training over the past eighteen months is small compared with those programmes and covers work done while they are being stood up.
Ahhh, so SJC Guardian finally gets a mention.
Been trying to track this for some time. The SSG ( Security Services Group ) is a specialist unit within MoD ( it’s not THE Security Service by the way ) that provide high end technical and other defence at certain key Defence sites in the UK and overseas. I have a list of locations as that data has been published previously.
It was previously under the DIO, but has been rebranded, like so much else, the trendy word “Guardian” added ( that’ll show em ) and moved to the Army at Montgomery House in Aldershot, which used to be the HQ of Army Home Command, now itself rebranded as Standing Joint Command, which is the overarching organisation involved in defence of installations.
I think the MPGS has also been moved to SJC too, another site defence organisation.
Sort of makes sense to me as the SJC ( UK ) ( Standing Joint Commander UK ) used to provide some home defence and CT response functions for Land Command, so the name has precedence.
So SSG ( SJC ( Guardian ) are the natural fit for high tech defence of sites, such as CAUS jamming and the like might involve. 👍
Hope I didn’t confuse too much!
I’d like to see a list of these 50 sites and 170 further to follow, to see what’s NOT included.
Another hot potato, not all sites can possibly be listed, as what if that site is covert and not publicised? I go and fly my Drone there, sorry Guv, I didn’t know a secret base was in that industrial estate. ( I know several. )
You can be sure a foreign intelligence service is well aware of these places, are you openly downing their Drones which then that in itself advertises that locations existence?
Restricting airspace in itself won’t stop Drones.