Located in County Clare, Ireland, Shannon Airport is a vital international airport serving primarily Irish, European and American destinations. As a transatlantic stop-off point for commercial and military travel, it’s now the fastest growing business corridor in the country. It has the longest runway in Ireland at 3,200 metres and is the only Irish airport that can accommodate the world’s largest jet, and a total perimeter of 15km. Such big space presents a special environment for the security team.

The airfield has mainly flat terrain, making patrols difficult as intruders can spot their vehicles from afar. The airport therefore needed technology that could alert to possible trespassing and provide context around intrusion events.

Central coverage of wide-apart spaces

The solution was implemented by Encom Systems Ltd., a Milestone Platinum Partner, and it included the combination of the Milestone Xprotect Expert video management software, video cameras from Axis Communications and Advanceguard intelligent real-time threat analysis from Navtech Radar.

“Navtech Radar’s Advanceguard improves the situational awareness of our operators and tracks any intruders automatically. Coupled with Milestone Xprotect VMS and 11 new high-end PTZ and 360-degree Axis cameras, our team finally has a system with the specificity to accurately detect intruders versus staff or wildlife activity, and the accuracy to guide on-the-ground teams to an intruder’s location.” - John Francis, Chief Officer of the Shannon Security Airport Police.

Advanceguard provides effective perimeter detection and tracks any intruders in real-time as they move across the site, so the team can rapidly respond before they enter critical areas.

Catching intruders on arrival

With Axis, Milestone and Navtech Radar, the airport’s security staff can see any potential intrusions on-site, along with an interactive site plan, video of any intruders and the location of security teams.

Through the rules engine in Xprotect software, cameras are instructed to hone in on what’s happening so security staff can decide whether action is needed. The ’Friend or Foe’ system cuts down false alarms while automated camera and lighting control increases efficiency. For example, maintenance workers on the airfield can be detected by the system but alerts are only issued when they step away from a vehicle at a distance that signals they are not following the norm.

Milestone’s open platform architecture enables more functionality and devices to be added as needed over time. As everything integrates within Xprotect, the key information is available in one place. This benefits training and ease-of-use, as staff only have a single intuitive interface instead of separate operations for every solution on-site.