With the increase in the number of privately-owned drones around the world, it is important to ensure the safety and security of airplanes in flight.

The British Government seems to be acting fast and trying to figure out precautionary measures against such drones.  In fact, drones are flown into airplanes to see how much damage can be caused. The tests are being conducted by the QinetiQ, a  UK-based defense, and aerospace technology company. The tests were paid for by Department for Transport of UK.

The tests are focused on analyzing and quantifying the dangers of drones to flights. The Civil Aviation Authority of the UK is providing all the technical support for the tests. However, none of the UK's Government departments have spoken about the tests. In fact, the specific objectives of the tests, as well as the location of the tests, have not been disclosed.

The Drive reported that the trials would be conducted on the ground with military airplanes and not commercial jets.

In April, rumors of a military-grade-drone-attack during US President Barack Obama's visit to the UK was making rounds, leading to a ban on flying drones all over London. It all forced authorities to come up with aggressive countermeasures against such possible attacks. One of the highly discussed defense options is the AUDS anti-UAV Defense system, according to RT, which is capable of detecting, tracking and destroying a hostile unmanned aerial vehicle.

The US Federal Aviation Authority released a report stating that around 678 drones were spotted in the sky by pilots in 2015. The European Aviation Safety Agency stated that drones under 3.3 pounds are relatively less fatal to aircraft

As of this writing, three confirmed drone-airplane crashes have been reported in Europe. Fortunately, there has been little damage and the aircraft involved were small airplanes.

The findings of the ongoing experiment are expected to be released once the tests are completed by end of the year.