‘It’s a bird, no it’s a drone’ – Robin Radar can tell the difference

By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill

As security officials all over the world look for systems to help them protect critical infrastructure and mass gatherings of people from the potential threats of hostile drones, a Dutch company is offering a solution for detecting and identifying small UAVs, based in large part on the historic ability of its systems to spot birds.

Robin Radar recently announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to deploy The Hague-based company’s IRIS drone-detection radar as part of DHS’s comprehensive suite of counter-UAS technologies designed to protect U.S. cities hosting the FIFA World Cup, set to begin in June.

“We see ourselves as an important building block in an overall detection system,” Marcel Verdonk, Robin Radar chief commercial officer, said in an interview with DroneLife. “A sports event or any large event provides fertile grounds for potential troublemakers who think that drones are a good way to disturb something, or worse case, to stage some terrorist activities.”

The IRIS system, a compact “plug-and-play” radar system, is expected to be deployed to fill the gaps at multiple venues where the use of more complex and expensive detection systems would not be appropriate. The system “can be set up in under 15 minutes by a single operator without technical support and operates 24/7 seamlessly with minimal human input,” according to the company’s press statement.

“Unlike more complex military systems that require teams of engineers to deploy and operate, the IRIS radar integrates seamlessly into broader counter-UAS architectures alongside cameras, acoustic sensors, passive-detection systems and command-and-control platforms.”

The FIFA World Cup events are not the first deployment of Robin Radar’s technology at major international sports venues. Verdonk said that French security forces deployed the company’s radars at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, where IRIS was integrated into a multi-sensor security framework protecting athletes and spectators.

Verdonk said Robin’s systems are adept at detecting small flying objects such as drones and birds, at relatively short distances, about five to 10 kilometers (about three to six miles). The 15-year-old company’s first major project, launched at the behest of the Dutch Air Force, was to design a radar system to detect birds that were interfering with military take-offs and landings.

Several years into the bird-detection projects, “they figured out we were also pretty good at detecting drones,” he said.

“We then developed the first dedicated drone-detection radar. And now, in 2026 we have a second-generation of drone-detection radar,” Verdonk said.

The IRIS system uses a micro-Doppler technology that allows it to detect small movements on a flying object, such as the rotations of a drone’s propellers. “We detect that moving propeller and we can clearly say, ‘Hey, this object, it’s not a bird, but it’s a drone.’”

Verdonk said DHS selected Robin as one of its vendors for counter-UAS technology after a several years-long testing process. “They did many field tests with our radars and we passed the test and they picked us as one of the technologies that can help them with this event,” he said.

He added that he does not know for certain which World Cup venues would use the Robin technology, but said he believes that DHS might deploy the equipment at sites in Florida and Kansas City.

“The federal government in the U.S. typically has a few federally approved reselling companies, and they have been tasked by DHS to buy radars from us. They also buy equipment from other companies and they bring it all together and then work with DHS to roll it out to the different venues,” he said.

IRIS is rated as a Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL 9) system, meaning it has been used extensively in active conflict environments, providing operational validation in high-pressure settings.

The IRIS is designed to provide 360-degree situational awareness, detecting, tracking and classifying airborne objects, including drones deliberately designed to evade traditional detection methods. “With an instrumented range of up to 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles), IRIS offers early warning, giving authorities the time and space required to assess threats, coordinate responses, and act decisively,” the company statement says.

Verdonk said Robin started out providing radar systems to civilian security agencies and has since broadened its customer base to include national governmental agencies in North America and in its native Europe.

“Our radar was meant for policing, for prisons, for protecting World Cup stadiums and Olympic stadiums and critical government buildings. That’s still a big part of our business,” he said. Its customers have included the national prison system in The Netherlands and the Dutch National Police Corps, as well as police agencies in Germany and the UK.

“In more recent years we engaged with our own government and some other European governments to provide radars for the Ukraine conflict. The Ukrainians need to detect a lot of drones every day,” he said.

The war in Ukraine has served as warning to governments in Europe as well as in North America, on the need to develop robust counter-UAS capabilities on the national level, Verdonk said.

“They’re waking up and they’re realizing that obviously what’s happening on TV in the Ukraine is just essentially a drone war.”

Read more:

• Strengthening Airport Defenses: The Growing Need for Better Counter-Drone Measures
• New York Preps Counter-UAS for FIFA
• FEMA Awards $250 Million Counter-UAS Grant for FIFA World Cup Security

Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.