Drones are increasingly threatening military and civil facilities, such as airports or industrial plants. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new method for drone defense: Thin chains fired directly at approaching drones become entangled in their rotors and cause them to crash in a controlled manner. Simulations and initial field tests demonstrated the general viability of this approach.
Drones are unmanned aerial systems, which can be operated by remote control or automatically. They are increasingly being used in sensitive areas such as military technology and surveillance. In Germany, drones have been sighted repeatedly near critical infrastructures in recent years. Conventional defense systems are often technically complex or have limited usability due to technical limitations. Against this backdrop, the researchers were looking for an approach to drone defense that was as simple, robust, and rapidly deployable as possible.
Physical Principle Adopted from Materials Research
The researchers applied the principle used for example by gauchos in South America for their bolas, and transferred it to drone defense: Thin metal chains are fired toward the drone using suitable launching devices. "We are harnessing a well-known physical principle and specifically adapt it for drone defense," said Professor Claus Mattheck, KIT Distinguished Senior Fellow at KIT's Institute for Applied Materials, who developed the method in collaboration with external partners. "Instead of balls attached to ropes, we use thin chains, which have proven to be more effective, as our simulations showed. When hitting the drone, the chains wrap around the drone's body and the rotors. The rotors get caught so that the drone crashes."
Simulations Prove Advantages Compared to Conventional Projectiles
An engineering firm conducted calculations to investigate the behavior of chains with diameters of three to four millimeters when hitting mock-up drones. The simulations involved parameters such as friction, geometry, and movement patterns.
"Our computer simulations have demonstrated the general viability of this method. Chains are particularly suitable as projectiles because, when finally falling down, the risk of collateral damage is less than with compact projectiles of the same mass," said Mattheck. "To confirm the calculation results, we conducted launching experiments in the Sternenfels ballistic center."
The researchers published the findings from their simulations and initial tests in the Aerospace & Defence and Konstruktionspraxis journals. In the next step, the team is going to extend the field tests. If these are equally successful, industry might adopt the idea for implementation.
Original publication
C. Mattheck: With Chains Against Drones - Even in Case of Power Outage
C. Mattheck, K. Bethge: Drone defence - With the bola against troublemakers
H. Moldenhauer und C. Mattheck: The Chain as a Drone Hunter
More information on the KIT Center Materials in Technical and Life Sciences
