TIP: You don’t own the air space above your house. They are allowed to fly there and if they get way too much near the people then it is against the law. Similarly knocking down or disabling a drone in the air is against the law, and flying the drone over your house is legal unless it’s in a restricted area without authorization.
Nobody loves drones in their private area. As it is an invasion in your privacy. Also, you feel like someone is watching you. So what can you do? You have got a lot of options here. Shocked? Most people think that there is no solution to this issue so today we’ll discuss how to disable a drone on your property.
Therefore, If you still wish to continue then today we are going to share some tips & tricks to counter a drone on your private property.
Ways To Disable A Drone On Your Property
- Spoofing
- Drone Disabler
- Net Launcher
- Skynet Shotgun Shells
- Jammers
- Laser (For military only)
So let’s get started and discuss each one of the points above without wasting a minute.
SPOOFING
Once the drone is under the new controls, It can be directed to return to the take-off point to assist in identifying the operator or it can be directed to land in a specific location where the threat can be assessed. If setup correctly, this technology can be used to create an invisible net around a secure location. The system can monitor any drones that enter this net, identify what type of drone it is and take control of it.
You must have guessed by now. As the name suggests, You can try to spoof the signals and take over the controls from the original controller to your controller. In this method, the third party takes over the drone controls remotely by impersonating the controller to make it seem legit i.e. spoofing signals.
Sounds complicated? Indeed it is. But how you would be able to set up this because it’s not easy. For this, there are certain companies which can help you in sorting this problem out.
It’s particularly an effective approach because of low collateral damage. Unlike technologies that jam a controller or GPS signal and can cause some drones to crash, Spoofing keeps the drone in control
Companies such as Department 13, Citadel, Dronefence, and Lockheed Martin have developed spoofing technology.
NET LAUNCHER
If the drone is within range a net can be an effective counter. Nets for drones are designed to entangle the targeted drone and/or its rotors. There’s a wide variety of delivery methods such as:
- Nets can be carried from the larger drones.
- Shot from other drones such as a Delft dynamics approach or shot from the shoulder mountain net launcher.
In the second method, Most of the nets have built-in parachutes designed to safely land or lower the captured drone to the ground.
The Skywall 100 is one of the more impressive net-based approaches. It is a 22-pound shoulder-mounted net launcher, It uses compressed gas to fire a net carrying canister at drones up to 110 yards away. It’s similar to a T-shirt cannon but with a net rather than a T-shirt. It also uses a smart scope to automatically calculate the drone’s distance & movements and then computes the exact moment to fire and alerts the operator.
The first method was seen in action when the Japanese Police used bigger and faster drones to carry a net with them and capture the drones which were flying in restricted areas or were disobeying flight law & regulation.
However, there are certain ways in which net-based attacks can be defended by creating a protective chicken-wire bubble around the drone but still, you would be to disable the drone on your property.
Once the net has captured the drone it deploys a small parachute to bring the targeted drone down safely. It has an 8 second reload time and is almost silent to operate. A drone caught in net has little chance of escape.
Companies with net-based solutions are Theiss UAV solutions, Skysec, and Openworks Engineering.
SKYNET SHOTGUN SHELLS
Inside the shells is a 5-foot web attached to tether and pieces that expand outwards. The net wraps around the drones interfering with the propellers and forcing the drone to the ground. If the round misses the drone, It is designed to parachute to the ground to reduce unwanted damage or injury.
The biggest weakness of the Skynet shells is that it requires a shotgun which massively limits the ways you can use it. So great for the farm but terrible for the city.
Projectiles offers a much more direct option. They are custom or regular design ammo available that will destroy or disable incoming drones. At just $20 for a pack of 3, the Skynet 12-gauge shotgun shells are one of the cheapest options available.
JAMMERS
Many drones respond to this lack of signals by returning to the home, safe landing, or crashing out of the sky. Also, These devices are practical over one mile, have practically no reload time, can function for two hours, and require minimal training. They are often sold as a part of a larger system that detects the drones, sends an alert to security, who in turn use these devices to disable the drone.
Non-physical attacks from drone guns or drone jammers are highly effective at stopping drones. These devices are essentially a high-powered antenna that blasts the drone’s antenna with a signal powerful enough to drawn out the controller.
There are three challenges with the jammers:
- Firstly, Jamming devices are illegal for a civilian to own or operate in many countries.
- Secondly, this is a blanket approach that jams mobile and other GPS signals.
- Last but not least, Some drones respond to jamming signals by crashing into the ground
There are loads of companies that offer Jamming devices like Battelle, CerbAir, and ArtSYS360.
You can also make a DIY drone disabler at home but it requires loads of hard work. So if you’re up, I’ll write an article about it and link it here.
LASERS
Lasers are military-level counter options. They are typically mounted on vehicles so they lack the portability of the other solutions. These are multi-functional, most of them were developed as a countermeasure to missiles and IEDs. In more recent years, they have been used on the battlefield to counter drones. It’s a unique solution, they have no muzzle flash, sound, or kickback.
Lasers offer another high-end tech approach to counter drones but it’s not available for the use of the general public. A laser gun uses a high powered beam to destroy the vital segments of the drone causing it to crash to the ground.
Companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Marduk, and MBDA have developed all laser-based on counters.
Also, It travels at the speed of light there’s no need to consider the direction and speed of the target. You simply aim & lock and bam! There’s nothing subtle about the effects of a laser, a successful attack will leave the drone racing to the earth in flames. As such outside of the battlefield, there’s a limited application for laser-based drone counters.
OTHER APPROACHES
There are lots of other approaches beyond the methods mentioned above such as the collision drones, eagles, golf clubs, and many more but essentially all counter-drone approaches fall into one of these groups.
Closing Note
In September 2017, U.S. Homeland security recommended only 13 counter-drone products for use by emergency response services only. That’s pretty low considering there are over 230 products on the market.
The demand for counter-drone technology has recently emerged in the last 3-4 years. There is no international standard for the design and use of counter-drone technology. Many of the solutions are not mature and have shown that some fail to make advertised claims. This is particularly troubling as jamming could interfere with emergency radio communications or physical attack can miss its target.
Conclusion: How To Disable Drone On Your Property
Point to remember, You can’t disable a drone flying above your house as it is legal (because air space above your house, apartments, or farms isn’t your property instead it is of FAA) until or unless you’ve got a restricted area. Take a look at the table below for a quick summary:
| SOLUTION | NOTE |
| Skynet Shotgun Shells | Good for the farms but not a perfect solution for urban areas. |
| Net Launcher | One of the safest option as it doesn’t cause any damage to the drone by returning it to the ground safely with the help of a parachute. Skywall 100 is a good example of it. |
| Drone Disabler | I consider this a nice way to tackle drones in your property. Either you can buy it or build one at your home. I would suggest you make one at home instead of purchasing it as it’s not a big deal. |
At last, I would say choose any of the counter-drone options according to your wish but do not disable drones in a legal flying area. It would only result in legal actions against you.
Have a nice day taking down drones in your property!
