C-UAS Cost vs Value relationship

Are you sat on the fence about investing in C-UAS?

Well, data compiled by Wednt, et al (2020) would suggest that it depends on several variables…

Key stakeholders

The reason it depends, is because there are several macro and micro factors that must be understood about your unique environment and operations. These factors must be considered and understood before an investment in C-UAS equipment and training can be justified.

Using Frankfurt airport as a model, Wednt, (2020) studied the impact of a drone incursion into restricted airspace over four closure periods of 6, 18, 24 and 48hrs. Each period began at the same time of 1800 UTC+1 and considered several costs, such as; lost aeronautical revenue, food, revenue, labour, material, compensation claims. What is important to note at this stage, is that a lot of these costs are shared somewhat between the various key stakeholders and not necessarily all attributed to the airport itself. This can be acutely illustrated by using the Gatwick incident of Dec 2018, out of all the passengers effected (140,000) 59% were Easyjet passengers, costing them ￡5 million in lost revenue and ￡10 million in customer welfare costs (Calder, 2019). Meaning that, if you are responsible for enabling operations with multiple stakeholders, it would be prudent to understand how each stakeholder would be affected and over what time period, to define a cost value justification.

Cost x Value relationship

How do we define the cost value relationship amongst multiple stakeholders and is there value in investing in C-UAS systems and training?

Again, what this data demonstrates is that time is a crucial factor in any disturbance or delay. Although, these figures are hypothetical and unique to a specific operational output, it demonstrates a formulaic approach when considering your own cost value relationship with investing in C-UAS equipment and training. Please see figures below.

Serial Cost

1 (6hrs) €0.35 million

2 (18hrs) €1.13 million

3 (24hrs) €1.67 million

4 (48 hrs) €3.3 million

So, what!?

A basic two-tier C-UAS system to cover an area the size of Frankfurt airport would cost in the region of €5.8 million. Therefore, this capital outlay would not be justified by a single one-off 48hr event. However, it would demonstrate extremely good value as a longer-term investment, dependant on the likelihood of further interventions. Clearly, what is often forgotten or less talked about is understanding your air environment and potential threat actors, long before the event takes place. Those with a responsibility to protect their assets, staff and operations would be infinitely better off in taking proactive measures. These measures would include collecting the data necessary to understand and inform themselves about what normal and abnormal looks like, including their most likely and most dangerous scenarios. If established early, systems, training and contingency planning can be applied to reduce your vulnerability to UAS threats, potentially allowing operations to continue unimpeded.

Conclusion

What this short paper identifies is that every environment is entirely unique. Firstly, operations and key stakeholders will be different and varied in proportionality. However, what is clear is that they will all share in the cost if interrupted and therefore should shoulder the proportionate cost of paying for the solution. Secondly, the cost value relationship is dependent on many micro and macro factors, such as time of day, epoch of event, cost to output, customers effected, IP stolen, infrastructure damaged, brand damage etc.. Only the individual group or businesses can identify these unique factors. However, the good news is, armed with this information, they can apply a simple algorithm to identify the potential lost revenue that could be associated with a halt or delay in operations. Finally, by taking the time to understand the above, a business could easily assure their operations with relative confidence, while not having to spend an arm and a leg doing so. If the due diligence tells you that it would not be cost effective to buy and maintain a C-UAS system, it may be of benefit to seek less expensive options that are better suited to both your budget and risk appetite. C-UAS training and education is one such solution.

Wendt, P., Voltes-Dorta, A. and Suau-Sanchez, P., 2020. Estimating the costs for the airport operator and airlines of a drone-related shutdown: an application to Frankfurt international airport. Journal of Transportation Security, 13, pp.93-116.