Posted on 04/18/2014 9:59:56 AM PDT by Seizethecarp
A group of hobbyists with a weirdly extensive machine gun collection decided to try a modern update to drone target practice. In this case, the targets were smaller drones ranging in size from remote-control toy airplanes to larger flying wings, about as big as the Army's hand-tossed RQ-11 Raven. Instead of special anti-air weapons, they tried a few different machine guns, which are more representative of the weapons insurgents might aim at drones. While many of the bullets fired hit the drones, it took direct hits to the tiny drone engines to make them stop flying.
Verdict: It's possible to bring down small drones with a machine gun, but it takes good aim and many shots—and it helps if the drone is just flying back and forth in front of you.
This target practice was part of the Big Sandy Shoot, an event in Arizona put on by a group of machine gun enthusiasts. Their spring shoot was the first week of April. For added fun and insanity, there was a night shooting session, where people shot at drones bedecked with glowsticks.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
I think without a guidance system, you’ll never be able to afford the ammo it takes to do the job.
It makes more sense to use a transmitter hooked to a big honking amp to interfere with the radio control.
How ‘bout a portable belt fed auto Gatlingshotgun hooked up to that tracking/aiming system?
That would be a great solution.
I think with current cheap tech it would be very possible.
The sky is still big and bullets small.
The best thing to kill a drone will be another drone.
Looks like good ol’ fun!
Drone dogfights - kool. Sounds like fun.
There are many FReepers that would LOVE a West Texas Shoot-Out like that.
Looks like they’d have no problem taking out an Apache chopper though.
Multiple Rocket Launcher
http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?55676-Multiple-Rocket-Launcher
That sounds like a good way to do it. Another way would be a 5KW green laser.
Seems like spoofing or jamming the RC ground station or interfering with the GPS navigation of an drone on autonomous navigation control would be more effective, but there are onboard drone countermeasures against jamming, I expect.
Laser zapping to melt the drone is in the works, but will be prohibitively expensive except to protect the most high-value targets of drones.
I wish there had been a drone camera taking pics at the Bundy Ranch showdown last Saturday.
“I wish there had been a drone camera taking pics at the Bundy Ranch showdown last Saturday.”
Would the Feds have tried to shoot it down or jam it in some way is what I would want to know!
The Feds might want to withhold revealing such capabilities until a threshold level of cost-benefit of disclosure has been reached.
Adaptive optics and diode laser 10Kw modules would reach out and touch them. That said, RC models aren’t flying based on the exact same aerodynamics effect mix as larger aircraft rely upon. And, the smaller the UAV, the more “attached-vortexes” dominate flight.
Outside of killing the propulsion module or control system, they will continue flying even resembling Swiss cheese.
If you can reach it with a laser, you might not need to kill it outright. You might be able to blind it.
like a model Hawk Missle
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