GMV will be providing the Rozas Airport Research Center (CIAR) in Spain with a system for UAVs. Photo: GMV

GMV will provide a cybersecurity system for UAVs in Galacia, Spain. It has signed a 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million) contract with the regional government of Galicia’s Galacian Innovation Agency, the company announced July 10. Galacia is an autonomous community located in the Northwest of Spain. This cybersecurity system will consist of a network of ground stations and a sensor installed on board the UAVs. The ground stations will continuously monitor the appropriate radio frequency bands, while the UAV’s onboard sensor will be used for geolocation of any interference sources coming from areas not covered by those ground stations.

The Rozas Airport Research Center (CIAR) is the testing infrastructure created under the Civial IAVs initiative, which is a strategic program developed by Galicia’s regional government for advancing civilian applications of UAV technologies. It sees itself as one of Europe’s pioneering testing centers for research and experimentation related to unmanned systems, and it offers the ground infrastructure and other resources needed to develop unmanned platforms and their associated systems and equipment.

Creation of this technological infrastructure, located adjacent to the airport and an industrial park specialized in unmanned aerial vehicles, has brought with it a need to protect the positioning and communication systems used by UAVs against potential cyberattacks. To do this, the system will monitor the positioning signals sent by the satellites, as well as the signals used for the communication links between the control stations and UAVs.