The country’s anti-drone air defense force is training with a rifle-shaped antenna that can jam the remote control signals of a drone. The jammer-wielding soldiers are paired with other shotgun-armed squad members, whose shotguns fire specialized shells. (As to how those shells are specialized, the Ministry doesn’t say, but there is at least one counter-drone system which fires shotgun shells that release nets on the target). Rifle-shaped jamming devices are more common in the counter-drone world, and the United States had adopted them to such a degree that even the National Guard trains with drone-jammer rifles.
Going forward, Rapid Scout will incorporate a counterdrone module using DroneShield’s RadarZero (a portable drone detection radar), RfOne (a drone detection capability using radio frequency), and an optional DroneCannon (a counterdrone jammer).Duke began life as a low-power, short-range gps jammer to keep radio-controlled roadside bombs from going off, but has evolved into a much more sophisticated system capable of detecting and disrupting a wide range of signals, from cell phones to the control links for enemy drones.
While Ukraine is the most glaring example of the danger, “Those dilemmas can be seen in any theater,” Piatt acknowledged. But focus on one threat, instead of “trying to solve the entire Army at one time,” lets the Rapid Capabilities Office get something into service as soon as possible, without waiting on official programs of record which, among other things, won’t get the Army a new offensive jammer until 2023. Once a solution has been prototyped, fielded on a small scale, and shown to work, he said, “then we can inform a fielding solution for the entire Army.”
Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, would only describe the devices given to the Iraqis as “jammers.” Dorrian has previously said that U.S forces advising and training the Iraqis have their own jammers to counter drones.