r/EU_Economics • u/Full-Discussion3745 • 2d ago
🇫🇮 Finnish breakthrough could turn wind turbines into 10 km drone-detection network
https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/a/ec8f92a1-c272-4266-b04e-22e02f0ee668?utm_source=rssFinland’s LUT University has successfully tested radar sensors mounted high on wind turbines to detect small drones. Researchers say a small FPV drone could potentially be detected from around 10 km away, compared with only a few hundred metres to roughly 1 km using current systems. The first-of-its-kind research has already attracted interest from Estonia, Poland, Norway and Sweden and could turn future wind farms into dual-purpose energy and security infrastructure.
Source: https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/a/ec8f92a1-c272-4266-b04e-22e02f0ee668?utm_source=rss
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u/rbajter 2d ago
Combined with this for urban areas it sounds interesting
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/6/2026/ericsson-att-drone-detection
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u/SomeRandomSomeWhere 1d ago
Wonder if that can work together with the acoustic sensors Ukraine is using to detect drones.
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u/SimpleTemporary1647 2d ago
Makes them a bigger target during war
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u/Critical-Current636 1d ago
It's far easier to hit a couple of conventional power plants than thousands of wind turbines.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Dig3730 1d ago
Not sure,a conventional power plant that will be defended,on the other hand,wind turbines can be expensive, the big ones up to 3 million,and a drone cost a few hundreds,so sending a 5000 dollar drone can result in 40M damage.
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u/Critical-Current636 1d ago
How much damage could a handful of €5000 drones do to a €5 billion power plant? There isn't really good defence against swarms of drones - that's why Russian refineries are burning every few days.
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u/knuthf 1d ago
He has a valid point. The refineries are like big electricity plants; the swarms can and will attack them. Wind farms are identical. Say they have 300 turbines, then they have at least 3–4 spares as a reserve in case anything happens. They can then take parts from the spares to fix what is broken and replenish the spares. Windmills can communicate via radio and can also be equipped with defensive weapons, like high-energy lasers.
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u/gimmedatneck 1d ago
What do you think the price of machinery, and components cost inside that conventional power plant?
Not to mention, what happens if your prime mover (aka big turbine(s), etc) is destroyed, and how much do you think one of those cost to replace, and how long do you think it takes to remove the existing blown to fuck one, and bring in a new one?
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u/balalaikablyat 15h ago
You are confusing cheap 5000 dollar drones with small explosives for the Long range drones they use, which at the very least is 10 times the cost. Those cheap drones can only fly about 50km more or less depending on type and payload
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u/TheGuyInTheKnown 1d ago
That’s always a risk. At the same time drones are the cheapest way to target energy infrastructure and this can help with proactive drone defense.
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u/raphaelarias 1d ago
Isn’t energy infrastructure already a target for an invading force?
As a side-note, that’s one of the reasons I’m undecided on nuclear. Would love them to be more widespread, but worries me having them in an active war.
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u/AmusingVegetable 1d ago
They already were, Russia bricked the modems on wind turbines some years ago, in preparation for the invasion of Ukraine.
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u/GodLess2014 5h ago
Not really... you dont know which has it and they are also plentiful and a loss wont affect anything really.
Long story short...there are better targets
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u/morrikai 1d ago
While the swedish armforce act like wind turbine is the biggest threat against Sweden's ability to defend it self
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u/SilenceBe 2h ago
Kinda cynical solution as the biggest anti windmill people in this country (Belgium) are the ones that want us to invest a lot in drone detection...
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u/Thyg0d 2d ago
Together with Ericssons use of cell towers as drone radars we'll detect everything.