The same qualities that make drones fantastic tools for capturing amazing aerial footage can also make them a genuine threat that’s difficult to intercept when misused. But a clever new design for an anti-drone countermeasure uses a second drone that sacrifices itself mid-flight to disable its target.
As the capabilities of drones have improved dramatically over the past decade, so have the tools designed to disable drones when they pose a threat. Multiple approaches have been taken, including devices that can interrupt the wireless signals between a drone and a pilot and force the offending flier to either land or crash. Even lasers have been proven effective, as the Navy recently demonstrated using Lockheed Martin’s Layered Laser Defense weapon that can destroy a target mid-flight. But those approaches rely on hardware that can be very expensive.
A more cost-effective solution is simply launching nets at a drone to tangle up its spinning rotors and knock it out of the sky, but even this comes with its own challenges. Ground-launched nets require a drone to be flying low enough to the ground to be in range, while nets launched from another drone in the air require a large and expensive craft that’s strong enough to carry a powered launcher beneath it. Both of those approaches also require propellants to actually launch the net, such as explosives or compressed gas, which need to be replaced or replenished after every launch.
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