Bizarre ‘kamikaze drone’ sacrifices itself to snare enemy targets with giant net

A UKRAINIAN engineer has built a defensive “kamikaze drone” that can take down enemy drones by deploying a kevlar net while in flight.

Drones have been weaponized against American power grids before and with almost one million drones registered in the US it’s crucial that there is a safe and efficient way to disable them.

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Aleksey Zaitsevsky developed the interceptor drone in 2021.

The device builds on racing drone technologies, which are extremely light but powerful devices that reach speeds of over 100mph.

A skilled drone pilot can operate the interceptor drone solo – the device’s multi-camera set up allows for an operator to approach an unidentified object and surveil it from multiple angles before attempting a take down.

The interceptor drone has four rotors, which detach from the body and splay a kevlar net around the target.

In a successful takedown, the net will wrap around the target drone and it’s rotors, disabling its ability to fly properly.

The hostile drone falls to the ground, while the interceptor drone body activates a parachute so that it falls to the ground slowly and undamaged.

The interceptor drone body emits a high pitch signal so that it can be retrieved – new rotors and a new parachute can be installed for later reuse.

The device is compact and is recommended for law enforcement applications – “several containers with interceptors can be placed on a patrol car,” Zaitsevsky’s webpage reads.

Zaitsevsky’s interceptor drone offers a clever solution to the growing concern over drones and terrorism.

A US Army-sponsored paper wrote that between 1994 and 2018, there were 14 “planned or attempted” terrorist attacks that employed the use of drones – one of these attacks was a plotted assassination of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Federal Aviation Administration has continuously deregulated airspace so that commercial, non-threatening drones can thrive.

“Once Pandora’s box was open, bad actors adapted quickly and began using drones to plan and conduct attacks,” the report read.

The interceptor drone is a “fight fire with fire” style solution.

Shooting a drone down with a gun or ground-to-air net lacks is very difficult – the interceptor could prove a more reliable solution.