Survive A Drone Attack

Introduction to Drone Swarm Attacks

A drone swarm attack involves multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating in a coordinated manner, often without requiring a central controller, with each unit following a slightly different set of rules. Unlike drone light shows, these swarms are deployed with hostile intent, posing a significant threat to personnel and infrastructure.

A 2018 United States Army study indicated that swarming tactics could make attack drones at least 50 per cent more lethal while simultaneously decreasing defensive losses by 50 per cent.

Nations including China, France, India, Spain, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom have developed or tested drone swarm programmes. These systems are used for intelligence gathering, communication, and direct attack.

Drone swarms represent a fundamental shift in weapons technology, capable of achieving mass destruction through numerous small-scale attacks.

Characteristics of Drone Swarms

Autonomous Operation

True autonomous drone swarms do not always require a central controller; instead, individual units operate with varying protocols. This distributed brain allows them to adapt to changing conditions without reliance on a single leader, sharing data and reconfiguring as drones are added or removed. This capability makes them robust and effective. Some advanced systems, such as the AVIC Jaw Tan mothership, can deploy up to 100 smaller drones from internal payload bays. When multiple motherships coordinate, they can cover thousands of square kilometres, instantly sharing information to create an adaptive network.

Lethality and Global Development

Drone swarms are designed to overwhelm defences. The Israeli Defence Forces deployed their first military drone swarm in combat in May 2021, striking numerous targets. The United States Army has been working on layered, low-cost, and rapidly deployable counter-drone systems, particularly at the squad level, recognising that cheap, ultralight drones can behave like guided missiles. These drones often operate in teams, with dozens waiting to strike from various angles, and some are even deployed as part of a lurk and strike tactic, left on the ground to await targets.

Types of Swarms and Drones

One prevalent type is the First-Person View (FPV) drone. These are inexpensive, lightweight, and extremely fast, capable of speeds up to 140 kilometres per hour. FPV drones are highly agile, enabling them to strike both static and moving targets. They produce a characteristic screeching motor sound and are typically piloted by operators using Virtual Reality (VR) goggles who respond to real-time video feeds.

FPV drones are often deployed in hunter-killer pairs, with one unit conducting surveillance and the other initiating the attack. Some advanced drones can be hardwired to an operator via a thin strand of fibre-optic line, making them immune to jamming but also louder, slower, and susceptible to the wire becoming tangled.

Waves of Attack

Drone swarms commonly operate in distinct waves to achieve their objectives:

• Surveillance Wave: This initial phase involves gathering information across large areas, including mapping the environment, identifying and locating potential targets, detecting enemy defences, and providing persistent intelligence. Drones employ coordinated search patterns, such as random walks, creeping lines, expanding squares, or grid-based searches, often flying at layered altitudes to ensure comprehensive coverage.
• Destruction and Suppression Wave: Once surveillance is complete, this wave aims to destroy and suppress enemy defences.
• Strike Wave: This final phase begins after enemy defences are overwhelmed, delivering the primary attack.

General Principles of Defence

Surviving a drone swarm attack necessitates a layered defence that incorporates radar jamming, electronic warfare, kinetic interceptors, and rapid decision-making tools. Military advice emphasises early detection, minimising visibility, rapid movement, and basic protection to enhance survival. Constant vigilance, physical fitness, and environmental adaptation are crucial. It is understood that no single method is foolproof, as drone technology continues to advance rapidly.

Detection Strategies

Effective defence against drone swarms begins with early and accurate detection.

• Constant monitoring of the sky is essential, using both visual and auditory senses.
• Unfamiliar noises, particularly at night, should be treated as potential drone threats.
• All aerial objects must be considered hostile until proven otherwise.
• Optics, radio scanners, and frequency analysers can identify drone signals up to 1 kilometre away.
• Compact radar and optic systems deployed on tripods provide surveillance. Examples include the Echo Shield system, which offers full hemispheric 360-degree coverage to detect small drones, and the Radar RPS42 radar system, which also provides 360-degree coverage and tracks small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) targets with low radar cross-sections out to 5 kilometres.
• Electro-optical and infrared (EOIR) sensors, such as the Teladine FLIR HRC system, enable day and night visual tracking and confirmation, seeing both electromagnetic and heat signatures that are invisible to the naked eye.
• Acoustic sensors are employed for passive listening, particularly when radio or GPS denial is active. Systems like Sky View, using the Squarehead acoustic panel, can be concealed, are lightweight, and are harder to detect due to their passive nature. Ukraine has developed similar systems like Skyfortress, comprising inexpensive listening stations that relay information to anti-drone gunners.
• Wearable technology also assists in detection, such as the Wingman drone detector, which is part of a personal jamming system.

Evasion and Concealment Tactics

Information gathered from various detection systems, including radar, optical, and acoustic sensors, feeds into a central software interface. The Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) is the standard command and control (C2) tool used across dismounted and small unit formations, likely serving as the framework to display threat maps and direct engagements based on this aggregated data.

Once a drone is detected, evasion and concealment are critical for survival.

Seeking Cover

• Immediate cover is paramount.
• Dense forests, heavy brush, or thick tree cover can effectively hide targets from drones.
• Underground bunkers or tunnels offer robust protection, though they remain vulnerable to explosives if their location is compromised.
• Enclosed spaces or hardened cover in buildings provide sanctuary.
• In a vehicle, adding a layer of protection, such as a makeshift covering like a chicken coop, can buy time.

Camouflage and Disguise

• Camouflaging everything, including trenches, equipment, and personnel, with local materials helps to blend into the environment from all angles. New paths or discarded garbage should be avoided as they can attract attention.
• Overhead cover is vital for protection from direct observation and munitions.
• Mylar thermal blankets or other heavy metal coverings can evade infrared cameras and heat sensors used by drones.
• Maintaining light and signal discipline, such as avoiding phones or lights at night, prevents detection.
• A small powder-based fire extinguisher can create a smoke screen or cover sensors.

Movement Patterns

• Unnecessary movement should be avoided.
• If spotted, moving quickly in unpredictable patterns, such as zig-zagging or frequently changing direction, complicates targeting. Such movements should be undertaken for short durations, exploiting drone battery limitations.
• Staying low and reducing one's silhouette makes it harder for drones to acquire a lock.
• Avoiding direct routes to key locations prevents their unintended revelation.
• If under direct attack, dropping to the ground and assuming a fetal position minimises exposure to shrapnel, or playing dead can deter follow-up attacks.

Deception and Decoys

• Confusing drones by exploiting their programmed protocols is an advanced tactic. If a swarm has a collision avoidance rule, a few outsider drones can disrupt the swarm, forcing units to collide with each other.
• Decoys can be used if the swarm is programmed to attack specific targets. This requires observing drone movements to understand their programmed behaviour.

Active Countermeasures

Jamming Technologies

Jamming is often the most cost-effective and safest method for disabling drones.

• Many drones can be stopped or deterred by jamming their GPS or Wi-Fi signals.
• Rifle-style jamming devices are manportable and disrupt control signals (in 2.4 and 5.8 GHz bands) and navigation systems, forcing drones to return home, potentially revealing their operator's location, or to crash. Examples include the Night Fighter S (range up to 2 kilometres, battery life over an hour), DroneShield's Drone Gun (Tactical and MarkV variants), Drone Buster, and Drone Defender (range of a few hundred metres).
• Wearable personal jammers, such as the Pitbull, work in conjunction with drone detectors to provide individual protection against drones.
• High-power microwaves can disrupt the electronic systems of multiple drones simultaneously. The United States Air Force's Tactical High-Power Microwave Operational Responder system (THOR) is one such technology, though it carries a risk of civilian casualties.
• It is crucial to note that jamming is largely a two-way street and can interfere with friendly signals, necessitating careful coordination. Furthermore, drones reliant on fibre-optic lines for control are impervious to jamming.

Kinetic Interception Systems

When jamming is not feasible or fails, kinetic solutions are employed.

• The MACE System The Mobile Acquisition Queuing and Effector System (MACE) by Northrop Grumman is regarded as a practical and cost-effective solution for drone swarms.

- Modular Design: It is a modular system designed to be transported in the 8-foot truck beds of standard pickup trucks or tactical vehicles.

- Components: The system includes a deployable tower housing a powerful 3D radar, electro-optical infrared sensors, and a Global Positioning System (GPS) to orient the weapon.

- Weaponry: The MACE system is paired with a Bushmaster 30mm Auto Cannon, specifically the M230 LF Bushmaster or its Army equivalent, the XM9914, which is a 30mm chain-driven cannon similar to that found in Apache helicopter gunships.

- Ammunition: It fires new XM1211 high-explosive proximity rounds. These 30mm rounds close with the target drone, and an RF sensor in the nose detonates a high-explosive charge upon identifying close proximity, bringing down drones ranging from 20 to 60 pounds or more.

- Performance: The Bushmaster cannon can accurately engage targets from over 2,000 metres (approximately 1.2 miles) away. The MACE antenna can be deployed in under 2 minutes. With a rate of fire of about 200 rounds per minute (roughly three rounds per second), it can theoretically engage three targets per second if they are close together. Multiple MACE systems and weapons can be linked to engage multiple targets continuously.

- Current Status: These systems are already in service with the United States Army, with some deployed to Ukraine. The MACE system is considered future-proof, able to integrate directed energy weapons for targeting in the future.

• Small Arms and Smart Optics

- Small-calibre bullets can be effective against smaller drones, though taking out thousands of drones with guns alone is difficult.

- Rifles equipped with Smash 2000 Smart Optics significantly increase the probability of hitting small drones. This system performs complex calculations to lock onto a target and fire when a hit is most likely. It was adopted by the Marine Corps in 2024 for defeating small drones.

• Shotguns

- Shotguns serve as a defence of last resort for drones at close range.

- Specialised rounds such as Skynet shotgun shells are available, which fire a 5-foot-wide net capable of taking out a drone up to 420 feet away.

• Interceptor Drones

- Drones are increasingly used to intercept other drones, either as hit-to-kill vehicles or by carrying offensive measures like shotguns or mines. For example, a drone armed with a Claymore mine has been used to shoot down a target drone.

Directed Energy Weapons

Directed energy weapons, such as lasers, are frequently proposed as a solution to drone threats. However, their current battlefield value is limited due to the need for significant breakthroughs in power generation or storage. Even the most powerful directed energy weapons in service today require several seconds of sustained fire to bring down a single airborne drone, which is insufficient for saturation attacks or high-volume drone swarms. While they may eventually complement or replace kinetic solutions, their effectiveness currently depends on advancements in power supply. Microwave-based systems also pose a risk of civilian casualties.

Challenges and Future Considerations

The advent of drone swarms represents a fundamental shift in military technology, creating what are described as unmanned hellscapes where offensive swarms are met by counter-swarms. A critical factor in survivability is whether the drone is controlled by a human or artificial intelligence (AI).

• Human-Controlled Drones: Human pilots face inherent limitations, including reaction times of 200-300 milliseconds for complex decisions, performance degradation due to fatigue, and moral hesitation that can delay or prevent engagement. Human weaknesses can be exploited through predictable behaviour patterns, decoys, or unexpected movements that force operators into situations where their judgment becomes a liability.
• AI-Controlled Drones: AI operates under different rules, processing visual data in microseconds without experiencing fatigue, fear, or moral conflict. AI executes mission parameters with mathematical precision and will pursue designated targets with unwavering focus, making escape significantly more challenging.

Given these challenges, the ability to detect early, jam first, and shoot only if necessary, leveraging cheap, scalable, and field-tested tools, is paramount for troops at the small unit level.