WyzGuys Tech Talk

Drones have become the must-have item for many people this year.  Some of them are your neighbors, and they may be annoying you or intruding on your privacy.  On the other hand, it may be a member of our military hunting a terrorist.  Or, increasingly, it may be a terrorist using a drone to provide surveillance, or worse yet, deliver something deadly like a bomb.

Here are three different methods to deter or disable drones.

Domestic

A woman in Bellevue Washington was disturbed by a drone she deemed to be flying over her property and too close to her house.  In the video below you can see she first tries to throw stones to disable it, but the pilot moved the aircraft higher.  She then went back into her house and emerged a few minutes later with a rifle, which pretty much got the attention of the pilot, who flew his UAV out of there.

Electronic

Then there is the DroneGun, made by a company named Drone Shield.  This weapon fires a focused beam of radio waves at the drone in order to disable the drone and force it to land or crash.  Popular with the military for obvious reasons, and increasingly with law enforcement, who have to deal with drone flying knuckleheads flying over forest fires and interfering with water bombing airplanes, and at protests, riots, and other outdoor events.

Avian

Then there is the article I read about how the French Air Force has trained 4 golden eagles to attack and bring down drones.  They are named after the three musketeers, d’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis.  (If you have to ask why there are only three musketeers when there are four names, then you need to read the book.) The eagles have been trained since they hatched, and have been fed a steady diet of meat off the back of various drones.  Now when they see a drone, they are thinking dinner, and down it comes.  The French are planning to deploy the eagles in France against drones that may be launched by terrorists.  See video below.