Among other things, the seemingly interminable war between Russia and Ukraine has significantly upped the ante in the technology battle between drones/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)/unmanned aerial systems (UAS) on the one hand and air defense systems—more specifically counter-UAS technologies—on the other hand. This was most recently seen in Great Britain’s decision to supply the Gravehawk air defense system as well as the Thales “Martlet” Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) to Kyiv. 

Meanwhile, the high-stakes anti-drone game certainly hasn’t been limited to Europe. U.S. troops recently participated in an exercise in Thailand where they experimented with a new weapon system known as the Dronebuster.

“Who You Gonna Call? Dronebusters!”

The news of this latest technology comes to us from Alex Wilson in a March 3, 2024, article for Stars & Stripes titled “US soldiers test Dronebuster prototype during mock battle in Thailand.” To wit: 

“The handheld electronic device emits electromagnetic signals designed to disrupt or disable unmanned aerial systems … During Saturday’s training, the targeted drones simply reversed course. In a real combat scenario, they would likely fall from the sky, said Capt. Tyler Schultz, an observer coach and trainer with the 196th Infantry Brigade, based at Fort Shafter, Hawaii … The swarm attacked twice........

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