by Chris DePuy / September 19, 2026
This morning, Ericsson and Erillisverkot demonstrated 5G Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) for drone detection in Helsinki, including a live September 16-18 trial at Vuosaari Harbor, in which cooperating base stations used radio-signal reflections to detect, locate and track low drones in real time. The trial ran several network points as simultaneous sensing nodes; the Ericsson build rides Massive MIMO beam-steered 5G radios plus dedicated edge compute and sensing signal-processing software, with AI and machine learning applied to target detection and classification.
The case for the capability is the small drone that emits no network or wireless signal at all, which traditional sensors struggle to catch across wide areas, per the release. Ericsson points it at airports, ports, borders and major public events, expects early deployments in defense and public safety, and puts broader commercialization in the 6G timeframe, in line with the monostatic UAV-sensing study described in the Ericsson ISAC explainer and the 3GPP SA2 study item.
We think the load-bearing figure is not detection range but the installed asset base. ISAC monetizes RAN sites already paid for by turning them into a distributed sensing platform, and that dual-use argument, connectivity plus sensing on one infrastructure, is the kind of revenue story that accelerates public-safety RAN capital cycles. We’re bullish on that spending, and Ericsson benefits twice: it sells the network and the sensing layer above it. Dedicated counter-drone vendors should find that combination uncomfortable.
650 Group researches several of the technologies we covered in this blog, including Service Provider / Outdoor and Security and SASE.