
Drone Swarms Are Going to Be Terrifying and Hard to Stop - jonbaer
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/drone-swarms-are-going-to-be-terrifying/555005/?single_page=true
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techjuice
Defense wise, this is just an engineering problem to be solved. With the right
technology, funding, testing, research and development this can be solved.

First phase should be how to detect very small items moving through the air
that can receive and/or send signals. Since drones can be 100% plastic, wood,
or other compound or material and move at very high speeds there should be
some serious research and development going into this. As this would also help
solve the were is the shot coming from problem without relying on sound. I
would guess measuring the differences from sensors using air pressure, wind,
temperature, etc. changes versus normal conditions in nanoseconds or
picoseconds would be pretty good.

Second phase would probably be how to jam, intercept and/or repurpose the
commands and guidance systems of the said drones. It is easier and cheaper to
just have them land in a safe place and unarm, versus using ammunition to
shoot them down. This would help in investigating and finding out who the
owner is and improve defense capabilities without destroying evidence.

Third phase could be using scientific research from the first phases to create
legal and regulation guidelines and policies. This would help filter out
legitimate drones, home brewed drones and trace owners of the drones, plot
previous flight paths and malicious usage (i.e. someone doing something with
your drone without your knowledge and tracking who, when, what, where they did
it).

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imtringued
The big question is cost. Does it make sense to shoot down a hundred $100
drones with a defense system that costs $100000 per interception?

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skellera
Doesn't matter what the cost of the weapon is. It's the cost of the potential
damage that matters.

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onetimemanytime
Zap them? Can you create a charged field and point at them? Of course you have
to watch for your own equipment, and if the drones are above, they will still
drop

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hinkley
I expect bolas, slingshots and arrows to make a resurgence in popularity.

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flashman
Obligatory Slaughterbots link:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA)

