In the UK, technology companies will be offered up to £900,000 to develop and test new solutions to counter drones around prisons. The program is intended to help protect staff and counter the use of unmanned aircraft to smuggle contraband into prisons.
The funding is the next phase of a £6.5 million investment by UK Research and Innovation aimed at developing new tools to tackle drones around prisons. Companies will be invited to develop and test their proposed solutions as part of the program.
Counter-drone solutions are intended to help tackle the use of unmanned aircraft to deliver drugs, weapons and mobile phones into UK prisons. According to the UK Ministry of Justice, 1,497 drone incidents were recorded at prisons in England and Wales in the year to March 2026.
The new developments will complement measures to strengthen security at the UK’s most vulnerable prisons. In June, the government announced £35 million for this purpose, including the installation of heavy-duty window grilles designed to prevent drones from being used to deliver contraband into prisons.
