When the Federal Aviation Management closed the airport in El Paso, Texas, and the airspace round it on Feb. 10, 2026, the motive was once, sarcastically, the within reach use of a era which may be key to preserving airports and airspace open and protected.
The focused drone became out to be a birthday celebration balloon, regardless that U.S. officers declare that drug cartels based totally in Mexico have flown drones on the U.S.-Mexico border. The episode highlights the desire for counter-drone applied sciences, the cutting-edge techniques utilized by the U.S. army, and the demanding situations to securely and successfully countering drones, which can be often referred to as uncrewed plane techniques.
I’m an aerospace engineer and director of the Counter-UAS Heart of Excellence at Oklahoma State College, the place we broaden and review applied sciences to hit upon, establish and counter drone threats. The army laser weapon CBP that staff used close to El Paso is an instance of one in all 3 classes of counter-drone applied sciences: directed calories guns. The opposite two are radio frequency jamming and kinetic, or bodily, guns like missiles and nets.
The rising risk
Beginning in 2015, the ISIS terrorist workforce changed industrial off-the-shelf drones to drop grenades and mortars on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, who had little approach to struggle the risk. This began the fad of enhancing client drones for army functions that continues to at the moment at the Russian-Ukrainian entrance strains.
Whilst army bases ostensibly have some protecting functions, vital U.S. infrastructure comparable to airports and gear vegetation have few the right way to monitor, let on my own protect in opposition to, drones. For instance, in 2018, site visitors at London Gatwick World Airport within the U.Ok. was once close down for 3 days on account of an unidentified drone within the airport’s airspace. Masses of flights had been canceled, affecting over 100,000 passengers.
Websites comparable to civilian and army airports, energy vegetation and stadiums are susceptible to drone flights, each from malicious and negligent operators. Drone flight over open stadiums comparable to the ones internet hosting upcoming FIFA Global Cup football fits are banned via the FAA. However the ban wouldn’t save you an errant civilian drone or a drone utilized in a terrorist assault from coming into a stadium and probably inflicting severe hurt to spectators.
A drone flies close to a small aircraft in a check at Oklahoma State College.
Jamey Jacob
On June 1, 2025, Ukrainian forces deployed greater than 100 “kamikaze” drones deep in Russian territory in an assault categorized Operation Spiderweb that broken a good portion of Russia’s bomber fleet. There’s little preventing one thing like this from taking place within the U.S.
To deal with this risk, corporations are comparing a large number of tactics to trace, establish and, most significantly, defeat drones and offer protection to vital U.S. infrastructure. At the present, alternatively, there’s no one-size-fits-all resolution.
Counter-drone applied sciences
Radio frequency waves that each monitor and jam drones have turn into broadly used within the Russia-Ukraine battle. Like several far off keep watch over units, drones use radio frequencies to keep watch over flight and observe video coming from the drone digicam. Detectors can monitor those radio frequency indicators to resolve a drone’s location.
Units that emit radio frequency indicators can be utilized to dam, or jam, communications between drones and their operators or ship false, or spoofed, indicators. Jamming or spoofing a drone usually reasons it to go into right into a “return to home” mode and go away the defended house. Radio frequency techniques are useful in eventualities the place a reduced impact reaction is needed, as a result of they save you drones from finishing their meant venture with out inflicting bodily injury to them.
Then again, this doesn’t essentially paintings if a drone is working in a “run silent” mode via now not transmitting knowledge again to a far off operator. In a similar way, jamming GPS may cause a drone to lose its skill to navigate the usage of the satellite tv for pc gadget, however this additionally blocks GPS indicators for different customers. Drones too can navigate with out GPS, with much less correct tactics comparable to following terrain with cameras or the lifeless reckoning way frequently utilized by pilots.
Directed calories techniques, then again, use high-energy lasers or microwave beams to disable drones. Those techniques paintings via directing a concentrated beam of calories towards an incoming drone. A laser or microwave can warmth elements abruptly till the drone turns into inoperative. A laser too can disable a drone’s digicam, disabling its surveillance capacity. Moreover, as a result of those techniques use calories beams, they may be able to interact more than one drones directly.
Then again, fast-moving drones is also tough for the guns to focus on, and the price of such techniques makes them prohibitively pricey for fashionable use.
Kinetic techniques contain bodily intercepting drones to neutralize them. This class contains the whole lot from net-carrying interceptor drones to standard projectile guns, comparable to firearms and missiles. Kinetic techniques bodily disable or seize drones, making them in particular helpful in eventualities the place it can be crucial to briefly take away drones from delicate spaces or when the drone items a right away risk.
Then again, as a result of a broken plane can crash in unpredictable places, those techniques is also simpler in battlefields the place falling particles is much less prone to motive undesirable injury at the floor.
The U.S. army makes use of a number of counter-drone techniques to protect in opposition to small drones.
Swiss cheese protection
In combination, those 3 sorts of counter-drone applied sciences – radio frequency, directed calories and kinetic – supply a complete device package for addressing the various threats posed via unauthorized drones. Then again, there’s no unmarried ultimate way to counter those threats.
To maximise protection, the Swiss cheese type is regularly the most efficient way. On this analogy, each and every defensive technique is a slice of the acquainted holey cheese. Whilst some threats would possibly go via a hollow in a single layer, the following layer can seize what passes via. This fashion, a drone making it in the course of the weaknesses in a single gadget can also be defeated via the following slice of cheese.
