It might look like something Sylvester Stallone would pull out of his trousers and level at a helicopter, but DroneShield’s new anti-drone gun has a far less Rambo-esque approach to bringing down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The DroneGun is essentially a fancy-looking jammer that interferes with the drone’s signals, from distances of up to 1.2 miles. Instead of making a drone explode, the 13lbs (6kg) piece of kit forces the flier to land. It can also trigger the drone’s “return home” function – useful for authorities that want to track the person behind the drone’s controls.
The CEO of DroneShield, Peter James, says the target market for the gun includes “a wide range of customers from government and military agencies to civil infrastructure to VIP protection”.
With the advent of affordable UAV technology, rogue drones are a growing problem. From drone drug smuggling to attempted assassinations, to simple interference in controlled airspace, UAVs present a number of problems for law enforcement. No wonder, then, that authorities have been experimenting with effective ways to disable drones.
Over the past year, Japanese police have deployed a crime-fighting drone squad – equipped with big nets – while London’s Met has hinted that it would be interested in copying tactics by Dutch police, using live eagles to hunt and take down drones. In October last year, The Guardian reported on a “death ray”, developed by a set of British technology firms, which can knock pesky unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) out of the sky by targeting their radio frequency.
Check out the DroneGun below.
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