How to defend against drone attacks

The drone strikes in Ukraine have been devastating. It's not likely to last.

Thanks for reading my newsletter. Please remember that I have no corporate overlord financing me to write this; it is supported 100% by its paid subscribers. If you’re not one already, please consider becoming one!

The Slinger, made in Australia, is one early-to-market counter-drone system.

Consider the following:

• Drones in the Russia-Ukraine war have killed some 3,000 people.

• An assassination attempt on Nicolas Maduro using off-the-shelf consumer drones narrowly failed just 17 days ago.

• I could stick a chunk of C4 on my DJI drone and fly it right through the windows of the Oval Office, today, and nothing would stop it.

At any time, when a target least expects it, a drone — remotely piloted by an experienced pro using virtual reality goggles — can zip into any scene and deploy a weapon before anyone even knows it’s there.

Militaries, security forces, and even local police are woefully unprepared to deal with the biggest battlefield innovation in decades. Particularly effective are the fiber optic drones, which are immune to the easiest and most accessible countermeasure, which is jamming of the radio frequencies. They work so well that this cable is now one of the hottest commodities in the world.

Luckily, both industry and individual innovators have stepped up big to rapidly devise defenses against this. The global drone countermeasure (C-UAS) market, currently at $4.5 billion, is projected to triple within five years. Soon the threat at all levels will, I predict, be greatly diminished.

Here are a few of these new countermeasures: