Hundreds of security firms vie for contracts at Qatar convention

More than 200 defence and intelligence companies from 24 countries have displayed technological solutions to security threats at a Qatar event, aiming to sign contracts with the Gulf state.

With Qatar making logistical and security preparations for the 2022 World Cup, a delegation from Russia – the host nation of this year’s football tournament – had the most recent logistical and security lessons to share during the three-day Milipol Qatar 2018 event, which started on Monday.

The advice included hiring and training tens of thousands of stewards who are not military or security forces, but another layer of security specialised in managing large crowds.

Other issues included securing and safeguarding the crowds and the provision of food to cater for an influx of diverse people.

Major General Nasser bin Fahad Al Thani, the president of Milipol Qatar, said his country has signed several contracts with international contractors worth tens of millions of dollars to enhance the country’s technological infrastructure and its computer systems.

OpenWorks, a British company, introduced an integrated security system that captures and disables small drones as they fly.

SkyWall, a system belonging to a British company, OpenWorks, is designed to deal with threats coming from small drones [Courtesy of OpenWorks]

The system, called SkyWall, operates much like a small shoulder-held rocket launcher, or a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), but instead of firing an explosive charge, uses compressed air to launch a projectile that fires a specifically designed “drone entangling” net made from Kevlar material up to the drone.

The SkyWall system is designed to deal with threats coming from small drones that weigh less than 20kg, which are typically classified by the military as Class 1 drones.

One of the its applications is to work as a security component of wider security apparatus tasked with protecting heads of states and other VIPs.

Another British company, Basis Technology, offered security and intelligence multi-language information extraction solutions with deeper applications in the civilian and military-intelligence applications.

On Monday, the first day of the convention, Al Thani announced the signing of several contracts with European companies to develop and update the interior ministry’s e-passport and Tetra communication systems.