Advanced System for Foreign Object Debris and Bird-Aircraft Strike Avoidance

Objective

Aeronautic sector is increasingly facing various safety threats to passengers, crews and aircraft caused by foreign object debris (FOD) as well as birds and the growing number of drones on runways and surrounding airport areas. Given the high impact of potential accidents and incidents – damage to aircraft and potential loss of lives – there is a continuous adoption of best practices and technologies to mitigate the risks. Today, most airports rely on periodic vehicle patrols for runway inspections, but such procedures have several limitations. Then, alternative technological approaches are expensive and only detect FOD. Thus, today’s approaches have not been effective, and aviation sector experiences costs that are estimated in +$13 billion/year due to FOD and bird-aircraft strikes.
MS3E aims to seize a major market opportunity, offering an innovative solution – the FODBASA. FODBASA has been specifically developed to overcome limitations of existing technologies and to meet the high demand for safety solutions for the aeronautic industry. FODBASA is an autonomous radar-sensor-based system designed for simultaneous detection of FOD, birds and drones. There are no similar solutions in the market. Its unique capabilities come from our innovative and proprietary high-frequency radar sensor that has been successfully developed for military applications and was validated by Danish Defence. Thus, our system allows to provide accurate real-time FOD detection and real-time threat alert for both birds and drones on runways and within a 10-km radius of the airport. Finally, FODBASA is a cost-efficient solution, triggering an attractive business case for any airport serving more than 2.5 million passengers/year.
FODBASA will represent the best technology available and a technological breakthrough with high potential to drive the regulatory framework in the sector. FODBASA is expected to generate €74 million in revenue and €33 million in gross profit, in 5-years post-project.