Weapons against drones. Top 8 Technologies to Destroy Enemy UAVs

You have repeatedly come across reports that the defenders of Ukraine were able to shoot down an Iranian Shahed drone with a machine gun. However, the fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the armies of allied countries have more powerful and effective weapons to fight enemy UAVs. It will explain how it works and what kind of weapon it is against drones Focus.

drone tracking technology

Before a UAV is shot down, it must be recognized and tracked. For this, various devices are used, which, according to their functions, are divided into passive (surveillance, wiretapping) and active (by sending and receiving a signal “inspects” the target), as well as multifunctional devices capable of detection. Classify and identify a drone, search and track it, report an approaching threat.

These devices, which can classify drones, are equipped with technologies that ensure they do not confuse drones with birds, airplanes and other objects. Some equipment can identify a particular drone model or even identify a “digital fingerprint” of the device/controller, for example its MAC address (a unique identifier assigned to each piece of equipment connected to the network – ed.). Let’s talk more about such equipment.

RF analyzers

The technique has several antennas to receive radio signals and a processor to analyze the radio frequency spectrum. Its main task is to detect radio communication between the drone and its controller.

Some systems can detect the most common UAV brands and models, and some can even detect the MAC addresses of both devices if Wi-Fi is used for communication. This feature is useful when law enforcement needs to prove in court that a particular drone and controller is active.

RF analyzers are relatively inexpensive, can locate several drones at once, do not require a license, some models can determine the position of an object in space, but do not always work correctly and are effective, especially in active radio frequency regions. at short distances.

acoustic sensors

This type of equipment is equipped with many microphones. They detect the drone’s sound and point in which direction it’s flying. More advanced devices can even calculate the coordinates of the helicopter.

The advantage of acoustic sensors is the ability to find autonomous UAVs, i.e. those that do not send or receive radio signals. Sensors are often used in bad weather conditions where visibility is poor. For the military, the acoustic sensor is good as it engages quickly, but it is bad in strong noise conditions, and the “range” leaves much to be desired: 300-500 m. However, when the RF Armed Forces use Shaheda, microphones are not needed because the engine is quite noisy.

At the end of last year, the installation of acoustic sensors in the Kyiv region was announced to raise awareness of airborne threats. In addition, Ukrainian experts have specially developed the Sound system for tracking drones and missiles fired by the Russian Armed Forces on Ukrainian territory.

Cameras (optical sensors)

The military prefers to use infrared and thermal imaging sensors, which can find an enemy helicopter in the dark and show what kind of “stuffing” it is carrying. Thanks to thermal imaging cameras, our fighters repeatedly calculated the Russian attack aircraft. Fog, heavy rain or snow can become an obstacle for such sensors.

radars

The technique works simply – they send signals all 360 degrees, they “hit” objects and run back, the radar picks up and decodes them. In this way, soldiers can understand at what distance and in what direction the perceived threat is located. Radars have a very long range, but many are sharpened to search for large devices such as airplanes and helicopters. However, if the attack UAV is quite large, detecting it is not a problem. Another plus is that the device can detect tens or even hundreds of objects, and it doesn’t matter whether you have good vision day or night.

The so-called Doppler radar distinguishes the speed within the movement of a particular target, that is, it can “recognize” the drone thanks to the rapidly rotating propellers. Thus, it is easier for the radar to distinguish the UAV from the bird.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are armed with British radars from Blighter Surveillance Systems with powerful antennas that detect targets at a distance of two dozen kilometers. The devices can detect a maximum of 700 targets at the same time while clearly recognizing them.

How Anti-Dron Weapons Work

Anti-drone weapons also come in different types as they differ in their functions. There are devices aimed at neutralizing, completely destroying or taking control of the drone. In this article, we will not cover a technology such as drone capture using networks, as it is not used on the front. Also, the method of catching commercial small quadcopters by specially trained birds of prey doesn’t work either.

RF jammers

The technology allows you to “trick” the drone to take control of it. The RF jammer sends a signal that is stronger but identical to the controller signal. The UAV goes into a stronger wave, and then the following may happen: the operator seizes control and takes control, the device falls, the device flies back, flies in an unknown direction.

Silencers cannot have a wide range, they can also work as electronic warfare and cut off communication with themselves.

Defenders of the country actively use Dedrone jammers (USA), which can “better” play fraudulently working GPS satellites, the Russian GLONASS system, the Chinese BeiDou, the European Galileo (we will talk about them below – ed.). DroneDefender models allow Ukrainians to control UAVs of Russian troops.

GPS Scam

As you can imagine, this device “replaces” the signal the drone receives from a GPS satellite (if such a system is used for navigation) with its signal. The device is given other coordinates and flies in the corresponding direction. The disadvantage of spoofing is that the operator needs to be as close to the object as possible. And the impostor’s signal can suffocate others, which could prevent the military in different locations from communicating with each other.

EDM4S Sky Wiper from Lithuanian anti-drone guns NT-Servise is a good tool in the fight against air targets. With strong radio signals exceeding 5 km, the installation can “down” a small UAV, creating strong interference.

Electromagnetic anti-drone weapons

So we got straight to anti-drone weapons. So what is it pulling? Electromagnetic (microwave) installations work as follows: the device generates a strong electromagnetic pulse in the microwave range (0.3-300 GHz), if it is in the range of a UAV, it will immediately fail. The fact is that an electromagnetic pulse not only causes interference (then the drone can simply fall to the ground, but its electronic “stuffing” remains intact), but also destroys electronics by increasing the voltage. Then the “filling” will simply light up. When using such a weapon, you need to make sure that the blow is directed correctly, otherwise other electronic devices may be damaged.

The US Army will soon receive the Leonidas device from Epirus. It will cost the Pentagon $66 million, but the department is not stingy, as they plan to improve missile defense systems.

Laser Anti-Dron Gun

The laser anti-drone weapon focuses and fires a laser beam, which, like microwave weapons, “fries” and neutralizes the drone from the inside. Such devices are being developed by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Also known about the joint development of Lockheed Martin and Rafael (Israel). The companies joined forces to create an anti-drone optical (laser) weapon to improve the air defense system. China also has laser weapons. Manufactured by China Space Sanjiang Group.

Besides being overly powerful and potentially damaging to other devices, the weapon is very expensive and is currently considered experimental.