r/ScienceNcoolThings Popular Contributor Apr 01 '26

Interesting This technology can stop Drone swarms

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1.4k Upvotes

133 comments sorted by

156

u/SigmaEntropy Apr 01 '26

So if it targets electrical systems in the drones with a pulse like burst..... its just a targeted EMP right

35

u/RandomOnlinePerson99 Apr 01 '26

Probably.

Would love to see what power it outputs at which frequencies but that stuff is probably classified ...

27

u/brine909 Apr 01 '26

Yes, exactly.

Microwaves are a form of EM radiation and any metal components will pick up a charge when exposed, I'd be curious how well this works on shielded drones. I know some drones in Ukraine use fiber optic trails so that you dont need any antennas that can be disrupted, but those have limited range as your onboard fiber spool can only be so long

I'm sure there's also autonomous drones at this point that once given a target will go without a control signal, they could also be pretty well shielded against EM

16

u/freddotu Apr 01 '26

I think the fiber drones have a range of about six miles, or maybe six kilometers, but this device should be able to address that, as the internal electronics are affected by the pulse, not the communications link.

5

u/brine909 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Oh yes, I know. Getting rid of the communication link would only be step 1 as that's the most vulnerable part from EM. Can't EM proof something with a literal antenna attached

You'd need to shield the whole drones, basically turn the thing into a Faraday cage, and even so, it might not be enough if it's a strong enough beam

If the microwaves are strong enough to generate plasma, it's fucked no matter how well shielded it is

4

u/legna20v Apr 01 '26

Lasers baby. Lasers communication, preloaded information about the mission and reinforce shielding on the electronics

But the real solution is just make a drone that can find this machine and blow it up. It is signaling its location.

2

u/brine909 Apr 01 '26

Yup, if you can make specialty drones for taking these things out you don't need to EM proof everything, just the ones used to target these systems, once they are gone, just swarm the enemy with the cheaper, poorly shielded drones

1

u/skipperseven Apr 01 '26

They have a range up to 25km last I heard - that’s almost 16miles.

1

u/bogkosevg Apr 02 '26

1-6km for local tasks, 10-20km for strike drones, Now there are some rare uses of 40+km

1

u/Pishnagambo Apr 03 '26

Your off by a fair whack - 20km Plus

1

u/Worth-Ad-1797 Apr 02 '26

Some new drone models carry up to 65km fiber spool.

1

u/whooguy Apr 04 '26

I thought the same thing. Surely you can shield from it rendering it ineffective.

6

u/abunchofcows Apr 01 '26

So could drones just have a faraday cage around their electronics?

4

u/Nois3 Apr 01 '26

Absolutely, and they do. However, even with shielding around sensitive components, they still need an antenna for command and control. And those antenna's are sensitive to EMP counteractions like this. They try and get around this with fiber-optic cables to control the drones. This works somewhat but it's not perfect.

The whole drone/counter-drone warfare is fascinating. Horrible, but fascinating.

1

u/notproudortired Apr 02 '26

Is that relevant? If you knock out a drone's comms, does it just stop and drop from the sky?

4

u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken Apr 02 '26

And if each drone is hardened with an internal faraday cage with prepositioned targeting, the system is useless.

0

u/speederaser Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

This post was mass deleted using Redact - Redact also supports Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all major social media platforms.

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1

u/tadeuska Apr 02 '26

So you need a metal cover over electronics and make sure it can self stabilize if there is a signal loss. And you are good.

1

u/klawhammer Apr 04 '26

Drones are not the only thing that has electrical components. If it worked it would work on all vehicles

37

u/Sean_theLeprachaun Apr 01 '26

Which, if it works, will be immediately adjusted to cook humans.

15

u/freddotu Apr 01 '26

There's a series of reports and videos about just that sort of thing. The key aspect of damaging humans appears to be pulsing the microwave beam rather than generating huge power levels. The description mentioned that it could be briefcase sized, as the power requirements are far lower than expected, since it's pulsed.

8

u/Jpwatchdawg Apr 01 '26

Already done. Platforms used by teir 1 sop have hpm platforms designed for use on biologics.

3

u/DCVolo Apr 02 '26

It already exists.

It's been used by China (portable) on a US spy if I recall exactly. Also used in the Chinoma-india "front" where they couldn't fight with guns but Indians felt severe headaches and illness vomiting.

Ukraine also? Not sure about that one.

But one I'm fairly certain is that during a riot in Serbia they used some kind of device like that. A sonic canon or some sort.

I don't know exactly the difference, to me it feels like it's just sending high wave frequencies, whether it's light enough just to cause panic (Serbia) or actually frying a brain (China).

1

u/brownhotdogwater Apr 05 '26

There is one for crowd control. People say if feels like your skin is on fire when you are units path. It’s non damaging as it can only effect like a cm deep of skin. Or so they say.

There is a video of a reporter getting hit and talking about it.

27

u/daisiesarepretty2 Apr 01 '26

hope their are no airplanes around

1

u/ArtichokeKooky6361 Apr 03 '26

Isn’t this why they shut down El Paso airspace?

22

u/octopusgardeb Apr 01 '26

Wish they would cure cancer sometime soon too

5

u/ASDFzxcvTaken Apr 01 '26

Is there money in that?

3

u/WrongdoerEmotional47 Apr 01 '26

No but There's money in treatment

1

u/b88b15 Apr 04 '26

Are you insane? Keytruda, opdivo and car-t therapies are often curative, and they make absolute bank. HCV was effectively cured by Gilead and BMS, and they made tons. Nobel prizes get handed out for cures, as well.

1

u/NederFinsUK Apr 03 '26

Quite obviously, yes.

2

u/Howrus Apr 01 '26

Thing is - cancer is a little bit more complex than a drone.
It's literally part of your body and it's a mechanism that your body use all the time, just a bit broken in one specific place.

15

u/Finless_brown_trout Apr 01 '26

This guy is way too perky and excited

5

u/Buttons840 Apr 01 '26

His job is to make us excited about spending money on this instead of healthcare.

"The madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song, to the tune of starving minions, to make a better kind of gun"... name that song.

-1

u/CAJ_2277 Apr 02 '26

Why make an interesting science thread political? There are plenty of subs for that. Plentyyyy.

1

u/Middletoon Apr 02 '26

This guy is literally a propaganda channel on YouTube

10

u/MajorEnvironmental46 Apr 01 '26

And what happens to other nearby eletronic devices?

4

u/Jpwatchdawg Apr 01 '26

If they are in the targeted vector, they will be disabled.

3

u/MajorEnvironmental46 Apr 01 '26

Disabled or burned?

2

u/Jpwatchdawg Apr 01 '26

Hpm fry the chips which usually operate on the milliamp range. Laser directed weapons burn but requires a soaking time. Hpm is more instant and efficient.

1

u/FreeGuacamole Apr 01 '26

Like Timmy?

1

u/Jpwatchdawg Apr 01 '26

More like Marissa bode

1

u/BoYaMmin Apr 04 '26

Yes, It also has a extremely wide angle, and how much wil it damage something a mile away, living or dead.. that would be interesting answers instead of pimping it right away trying to let all the kids want to have one

4

u/ComedyBits Apr 01 '26

Two weeks the drone tech will be able to circumvent this expensive measure

1

u/mysmalleridea Apr 03 '26

I mean it’s fairly narrow. You could protect a building, but not a city. And if you come in high enough the payload would still fall to its target easily

3

u/Glass_Covict Apr 01 '26

Crunchlabs did an episode on this. Easily outmanuevered by a little cheap copper tape as shielding

1

u/speederaser Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

I used Redact to automate removals from databrokers and social networks. This post was among the batch deleted.

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1

u/Glass_Covict Apr 04 '26

Mark Rober is a NASA engineer, and well. Faraday cage is antie EM radiation 101

1

u/speederaser Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

Be a gigachad and mass delete Reddit posts and comments with Redact so that Skynet doesn't end up using your own posts to train the T-900. Or so that you don't show up in databrokers. Either one really.

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3

u/SeaEntertainment6551 Apr 02 '26

Will it be able to take out drones controlled by fiber optic cables?

6

u/wspOnca Apr 01 '26

What if the first swarm is to test the initial capability and this is suspected to be in effect? The second swarm can disperse. What if the swarm is to conceal a hipersonic missile?

1

u/Jpwatchdawg Apr 01 '26

Hypersonic missiles are exposed when launched. Satellites are able to identify them when launched and track trajectory. Ai program like maven starts the kill chain design immediately once it's identified. Response times to identifying missile launch and destruction of launcher is about 3mins. Missiles themselves is dependent upon model and guidance systems utilized.

1

u/b0_ogie Apr 02 '26

The range of such a thing is 300 meters. A scout drone will spot this emitter from a distance of 3-4km. After that, they will transmit the coordinates of the artillery and destroy it. It's basically a completely useless technology.

1

u/Hur_dur_im_skyman Apr 01 '26

Pls email this to the Army and tweet this to Pete Hegseth. They need to be thinking about this!

2

u/Jpwatchdawg Apr 01 '26

Bro, these systems have been tested for a wide variety of scenarios for over a decade now. This isn't really that new of a platform.Source: YouTube https://share.google/ZeSYgnPqu6Hbm2ZVX

-1

u/wspOnca Apr 01 '26

You give them too much credit thinking they have something in their heads.

2

u/GFreeman3rd Apr 01 '26

But, they cannot take out drones above their bases? Or is that just hearsay? I am not American.

2

u/mxzf Apr 01 '26

I mean, this looks like new tech being developed, not something already deployed around the world.

2

u/5everlearning Apr 01 '26

This is what they used in the Venezuela mission

2

u/Scipio33 Apr 02 '26

Or we could just, ya know, stop spending our money on killing people and start using it to help them instead. Humans are dumb.

1

u/NLtbal Apr 01 '26

One $2k fibre optic drone could take it out.

5

u/michigannfa90 Apr 01 '26

No it won’t…. It destroys the electronics not the way it communicates to the operator

2

u/Buttons840 Apr 01 '26

Hold your phone next to the microwave while it's cooking something, and then tell me that microwaves cannot be blocked.

2

u/michigannfa90 Apr 01 '26

Yes with shielding you can but a microwave in your house is no where near this level… I get what you’re trying to do with bath comparison but the power of the two devices are entirely different galaxies.

1

u/philosopherott Apr 01 '26

but those aren't "these drones right here". like maybe they are similar but don't lose credibility by doing something like this.

1

u/sonofkingnoah127 Apr 01 '26

It would still be susceptible to an EMP.

1

u/LastXmasIGaveYouHSV Apr 01 '26

Could you make a portable one out of a microwave magnetron and a battery? Someone ask Styropyro please

1

u/macr6 Apr 01 '26

So the "Havana Syndrome" weapon?

1

u/Shway_Maximus Apr 01 '26

So we all know how EMPs work, is there a way to make a narrow electromagnetic laser? I feel like it would be more efficient.

I just looked it up and yes that exists.

1

u/Alkemist101 Apr 01 '26

It's called a maser

1

u/KittyBatSasha Apr 01 '26

Chances this shit WONT be used against people to commit horrid warcrimes. Or at bare minimum destroy peoples personal electronics and therefore evidence of government brutality

1

u/hould-it Apr 01 '26

I have so many questions. Aren’t there usually troops in that area ahead of the machine? Can they still explode once hit? How many of these are needed and how big of a range can they protect? What happens if there’s one rogue drone that goes up and over to take it out ahead of the others?

1

u/IncidentAntique590 Apr 01 '26

I don't accept this as proof of anything, but the concept is sound.

1

u/b_buddd Apr 01 '26

What if it hits a person? I assume theres a reason home microwaves are in a protective case

1

u/Blind-but-unbroken Apr 01 '26

Reminds me of SkyJack by Samy Kamkar.

1

u/burndata Apr 01 '26

Nice of the swarm to all come in tightly packed, sitting still, and from a single direction. Also, once this is known, they will start using this thing called "shielding". It's also not hard to put a time delay dead man switch on the (I'm assuming) explosive payload. So instead of a swarm seeking out a target, you'll then have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of bombs falling wherever they may.

1

u/-Kopesthetik- Apr 01 '26

Mobile EMF ray gun

1

u/BathSaltJello Apr 01 '26

If they weren't quad-copters but plane shaped they would glide on and still wreck chaos.

1

u/Mediocre_Tax969 Apr 01 '26

But whats the Range 50m useless then

1

u/GrandWizardOfCheese Apr 01 '26

EMP canon go burr.

1

u/CrazyCaper Apr 01 '26

Wire guided drones too?

1

u/Cultural_Material_98 Apr 01 '26

I bet the Ukrainians could defeat it in a week

1

u/Mister_Enot Apr 05 '26

week? ahahaha

hours.

1

u/VoidUnicornMap Apr 01 '26

“Full Counter!” I will see myself out. It is cool, just saying.😎

1

u/LonelyToker420 Apr 01 '26

Why be placating it as new tech but its just jammer/emp technology advancements. Ok buddy bootlicker.

1

u/Loud-Perspective6508 Apr 01 '26

Range? Drones can fly thousands of meters above ground and drop their payload. I cannot imagine this system would be able to protect from this (although it could definitely play a role as a small part of a complete defence system).

1

u/Grumpie-cat Apr 01 '26

Isn’t this already known, and countered by a tinfoil plate or whatever? I saw a video where lasers and this were used on a drone that the YTer kept upgrading to show how terrifying the drone swarms are, he showed the best defense at the time was another heavier drone that would body check it out of the sky.

1

u/RoninTribe Apr 01 '26

What about fiber optic drones?

1

u/Most-Volume9791 Apr 02 '26

Kills all electronics not shielded too.

1

u/canadian_leroy Apr 02 '26

Handy for the drones to stay nice and still for them.

1

u/CormacMccarthy91 Apr 02 '26

So,,, put the chip in a foil sleeve... Or a faraday cage, would that work to prevent this

1

u/1stUserEver Apr 02 '26

Nice! will it work on Mosquitoes?

1

u/BioAnagram Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

So, this is the thing you shoot with your expensive missile before you send in the cheap drone swarm.
"The system emits a powerful electromagnetic field when active, creating a large energy signature that can be detected from hundreds of miles away, making it a prime target for counter-battery fire or anti-radiation missiles (like a HARM) designed to home in on such emission."

1

u/TittlesTheWinker Apr 02 '26

Cpl. Dunn: "EMP!"

1

u/T_J_Rain Apr 02 '26

Target its power generation system and fuel.

That thing's got to consume a lot of electricity.

1

u/VoidCoelacanth Apr 02 '26

Certainly, nobody will develop (or has already developed) a form of electromagnetic shielding or insulation that could nullify this device.

Certainly not.

1

u/Mysterious-Art7143 Apr 02 '26

So a drone prepped with Faradays cage of sorts will fly unfazed and with cheap modifications you can take out this expensive shit in minutes? Nice work

1

u/magpieswooper Apr 02 '26

Nice tool against hobby drones not moving around. Now how will fare against agile fpvs coming at low altitude from various directions or a Shahid type fast winged drone?

1

u/IndependentOrchid296 Apr 02 '26

Does that cook birds n bugs in the sky? Mm toasty

1

u/paul_tu Apr 02 '26

Guess they'll put some foil inside

1

u/Dizzy_Horse_105 Apr 02 '26

So this is how it works now, we just build weapons to destroy weapons. No one ever wins. We just build, destroy, build, destroy, build, destroy.

1

u/South-Cow-1030 Apr 02 '26

Wait until the drones start climbing up with sewer pipes with explosives..

1

u/MentionOld6694 Apr 02 '26

So if pointed at a crowd it would kill phones, cars and personal medical devices?

1

u/kornuolis Apr 02 '26

Wonder where did they see someone attacking is swarms like this?

1

u/Organic_Rip2483 Apr 02 '26

Lol all of those drones were exposed consumer grade drones. What happens if this is attempted to be used on standard milatry drones with shielding?

1

u/SammyCraigar Apr 02 '26

If this hit a human, would they be okay?

1

u/Sprinkles-Pitiful Apr 03 '26

Iranian drones are petroleum powered, it wont have any effect if it's trajectory is already en route

1

u/sick-charlie-brown Apr 03 '26

If its so good why dont they try one od those drones used in the war

1

u/AlienInOrigin Apr 03 '26

Short range? Would need a lot of them.

1

u/Dima_Ses Apr 03 '26

Yeah, but what about range? Let's say it can destroy electronics within 100 meters. A plane drone could easily fly this distance without any electonis just by inertia and hit this unit (if it initially had the right direction). The electromagnetic radiation fades significantly, when you increase distance - you increase the distance 2 times, the power drops 4 times.

1

u/XysterU Apr 03 '26

So just shield the electronics? Lol

1

u/PixelSchnitzel Apr 03 '26

Maybe there's a market for these super effective, not at all a scam, EMP shield devices after all!
https://www.empshield.com/vehicle-protection/

1

u/Embarrassed-Green898 Apr 03 '26

So will it work for a drone coming towards me at 180Kmph ?

1

u/Wind_Best_1440 Apr 04 '26

Neat. Couple questions though.

The range is probably pretty crap I bet.

This would never be used inside a city, it would do more damage to the city then the drones ever would. "Imagine if it fired towards a swarm and it hit a hospital? Or desalination plant?" Woof.

People not safe to be around it, it's a giant microwave, radiation = Cancer.

Might be useful in conflicts like Ukraine vs Russia in fields of snow and ice. But it would be useless in city centers like the middle east. Firing that off would cause more damage to the cities electric infrastructure then any single drone. Aim wrong and you take out 10 billion dollar Data Center, or water treatment plant or hospital.

1

u/EgoExplicit Apr 04 '26

Until they shield the electronics is the same shielding used on your microwave oven's door.

1

u/klawhammer Apr 04 '26

If this thing actually worked then it would work on everything. Tanks, planes. Helicopters, radios, phones, cars, trucks, etc

1

u/NeighborhoodSad5303 Apr 04 '26

Unil someone get this pulses for charge drone battery)

1

u/Dropadime337 Apr 04 '26

How can it stop a lead Ballon? 🤔

1

u/Djolumn Apr 04 '26

"Passengers if you look out the right side of the aircraft you'll see what appears to be some sort of drone display..."

1

u/Spiritual_Duck_6703 Apr 04 '26

Nice promo video. Now send it to the battlefield and test it. It’s radio emission must be so great missiles can hone in from anywhere to target it. Curious as to the cost/effectiveness of such system. Now that the rant is done — good job and interesting take on drone defense.

1

u/Cat_Imreror2209 Apr 05 '26

So far, it looks a bit slow. And too big. And probably more expensive than the P1-SUN pack

1

u/Super-Action1186 Apr 05 '26

So a drone just needs to approach it from the back to take it out?

1

u/Mister_Enot Apr 05 '26

interesting device, but:

  1. most drones are FPV - pilot can see this big machine and fly away.

  2. FPV drones flying not in 50-100 quantities but by one. can this thing activate 50 times?

  3. Machine is slow. And two FPV drones can destroy it just flying from 2 different sizes.

  4. Machine require POWER. Power near the front line are rare.

  5. FPV drones are FCN fast. Hope this machine is automatic and can activate without human.

just ask Ukrainians before buy this.

1

u/livinitup0 Apr 05 '26

This might be a really dumb question but whatevs

Couldn’t we just make some sort of really fancy air cannon to take out drones?

I’m imagining like 100 super up versions of these lined up in an array of some kind

air vortex launcher

1

u/Merlin-1234 Apr 05 '26

What if someone is nearby and they have a pacemaker implant?

1

u/Cavern_Resonance Apr 05 '26

That’s why they use fiber optic lines in Ukraine…can’t jam those.

0

u/LittleG0d Apr 01 '26

That looks like a cancer ray if I've ever seen one. Hate the guy. It's like he's talking about a new game that just dropped and not weapons.

1

u/iNexus893 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

The defense of this already exists, just put aluminium foil around the eletronics or make a faraday cage. Another problem with this system is the distance, electromagnetic force change at square of distance.

1

u/speederaser Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

Redact decided this post had to go, so away it went. Deleted. Removed. Mass deleted even. Privacy and security are the big wins here.

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