DroneGun is quick on the draw

In turn, the limitations on where drones can legally be flown are also on the rise – with stringent restrictions, particularly in the US, around public areas, important buildings and sporting arenas.

DroneShield has produced its DroneGun, a firearm capable of disabling a drone flying over a mile away. This is achieved by sending the drone a jamming signal across the 2.4 and 5.8GHz frequencies. This enables the gun operator to land the drone safely instead of them being flown into targets or to expel a payload of explosives or weapons.

The DroneGun is currently waiting on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, and therefore can’t be used in the US yet. However, it has already been deployed by Swiss police agency Graubünden, at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, to protect the 3,000 participants which included political leaders, central bankers, CEOs and executives from approximately 1,000 global companies.

DroneShield claim that the DroneGun offers a safe countermeasure against a range of drone models and allows for a controlled management of drone payload such as explosives, with no damage to common drone models or the surrounding environment.

The company also claim that the device’s simplicity means that it needs no technical training to use or set-up and can be individually operated. Crucially, it does not destroy the drone in question, instead landing it safely and making it available for forensic investigation, which can in turn lead to the location and apprehension of the UAV operator.

While there are a large number of drones in the market, they often have similar acoustic signatures and thus can be detected so long as the ‘family signature’ is in the company database. However, DroneShield also updates its drone database on a regular basis. In addition, most DIY and custom drones use commercially available components, and therefore, the acoustic emissions will be similar to commercially available drones and will be detectable by the DroneShield system.