Swarms of explosive drones are a dark cloud in the minds of military commanders three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where many thousands of armoured vehicles and soldiers have succumbed to the weapons.
By some estimates, the majority of Russian and Ukrainian casualties have been caused by unmanned aircraft, mostly the smaller, short-range kind compared to large American drones like the Reaper.
Not even heavily armoured vehicles are safe. In December, a US-made M1A1 Abrams tank was destroyed after six direct hits from Russian first-person view (FPV) quadcopters. While it is not clear how many of the quadcopters missed or were downed before the tank was a write-off, defence planners are not taking any chances.
Drones are critical ammunition in their own right, sometimes used in lieu of artillery, although big guns can be more destructive in the right circumstances, according to a recent report from the Rusi defence think tank.
A wide range of counter-drone technology was on display at this month's Idex 2025 defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi. It ranged from laser weapons to zap drones out of the sky to low-cost rockets that fill the sky with shrapnel and a “smart shooter” system which attaches to soldiers' guns and helps them to aim at the fast-moving objects.
Less sophisticated options have been tested in combat, often used alongside more basic protective measures such as setting up “tunnels” of netting over roads.
The constant evolution of drone and counter-drone operations has been dubbed “near-surface warfare” by the British army, and is spawning a dizzying array of countermeasures.
Russian and Ukrainian soldiers both carry shotguns, but experts are divided over how effective they are because some FPVs fly at 150kph or faster. That means a travel rate of more than 40 metres per second – a target even a skilled shooter would struggle to hit.
Ukrainian troops have carried the semi-automatic BTS 12 shotgun while Russians have used semi-automatic shotguns such as the VEPR-12 and have even been spotted with a rig of 24 shotgun barrels.
Tactical drones cause terrible carnage, and range from FPVs that can chase down a target to larger “bomber” quadcopters and fixed-wing drones fitted with bombs such as Russia's Lancet, which uses computer vision to hunt targets.
Seconds to stop the threat
How, then, can modern armies respond? A common method is jamming radio signals and video feeds that keep tactical drones airborne and provide operators with a view of flight.
However newer drones find targets through computer vision, meaning that for the last part of their flight there is no signal to jam.
In Ukraine, both sides also use drones guided by thin fibre-optic cable that unravels over significant distances, often 10km or, some claim, even further, again making jamming useless. That means the last-ditch option is shooting down the drone, perhaps with seconds to spare.
Abraham Mazor is a representative of Smart Shooter, which makes a smart weapon sight used by the Israeli army and increasingly ordered by foreign customers including the UK. The gun sight uses an image processor to recognise and lock on to targets, enabling a relatively average rifleman to become a decent marksman.
“The main idea was to be able to hit a moving target on the ground with high probability. And then we said, ‘If we can use it on the ground, why not in the air?’” Mr Mazor tells The National.
“Through a software adaptation it also works against drones. The drone’s movement is not stable, but we have the computer to calculate the speed and predict direction of movement, and then it can tell where to fire automatically. We like to remove the sensitivity of the shooter,” he says.
He says Smart Shooter creates a natural “layer” or network of air defenders to cover far more angles than fixed weapons. “We can give the software to every shooter, the technology allows him to be perfect, an expert in shooting and eliminating small unmanned aerial systems.”
To give a sense of how quickly drone warfare is evolving, Ukraine noticed the Russians using the fibre optic drones in March last year and had their own version within weeks. Now both sides regularly use them in a war where each produces or procures hundreds of thousands of quadcopters per month.
This has sparked debate over the extent armies need to use an array of antennas, each trying to jam a part of the spectrum of radio frequencies the drones could be operating on, knowing that any gap in frequencies could be exploited with deadly results.
Alternatively, “hard kill” methods – as opposed to “soft kill” electronic warfare – involve shooting or hitting them with lasers, or some combination of both. There are also increasingly smart methods of jamming, involving systems that detect a drone frequency and then generate the same frequency at higher power to block the signal.
But jamming has the drawback that the more it is deployed, the higher the risk that it interferes with your own communications and links to friendly drones.
Some armies now believe a layered approach is best, using several systems, something tested last summer by the US army at the Yuma proving ground against an attack of 50 small drones flying in fast at different angles. The Americans are also testing a system, Bullfrog, which uses computer vision to control an automated machinegun.
For effective protection against drones, “ideally you want several systems, jamming and electronic warfare and lasers are a good multi-layer approach,” says Hyonbin Hong, Vice President of Global Business at LIG Nex1, a South Korean defence corporation.
“The Korean government wanted various solutions, non-destructive and destructive, or to some people, ‘soft kill’ or ‘hard kill’, the first being electronic warfare and the second being missiles or laser systems. We’re considering all solutions,” he says.
Mr Hong’s company has developed a laser counter-drone system, which he says is still in testing. Lasers are touted as ideal to counter small drones because, unlike missiles that can cost many thousands or millions of dollars, they are said to cost a few dollars a shot. But challenges include making the delicate, complex systems rugged enough to function in a war environment.
Mr Hong says lasers often do not need high power to stop a drone – damaging its camera is enough to blind it, which especially important if the drone flies by computer vision or fibre optics.
“Our basic concept with the laser system is neutralisation and that destruction is not an ideal approach. This can be achieved with a small power level, you don’t need high power and one of our projects is a rifle laser gun and a ground vehicle-based high-power laser type. For larger classes of drone, we use high power, and to achieve longer range.”
In the UK and US, high-power microwave systems are also in testing. These machines, such as Epirus’s HPM, send out blasts of electromagnetic energy which overload a drone's electrical system.
But many experts say it is hard to imagine solutions that do not include cheap and plentiful bullets, or increasingly rockets, which are cheaper than missiles.
Giorgio Markov says hard kills like this are increasingly vital, and his company, Hades Defence Systems, makes a 24-rocket pod that fills the sky with shrapnel.
“We're seeing a lot of saturation of soft kill systems on the market,” he says. “With jammers, they're a very tailorable product. So with each particular communications band you would like to jam, you need to have a separate antenna for that.
“So you want to cover the full spectrum. You want to cover radio waves. You want to cover global navigation satellite system constellations like GPS or Glonass, all your standard navigation systems.
“You want to cover mobile frequencies, because a lot of drones do have mobile modules that connect cellular frequencies for communication. Basically, you want to cover the entire magnetic spectrum, you need a lot of antennas and a lot of power output,” he says.
He points out that, aside from the power required, the enemy can quickly change drone-operating frequencies and, if using satellite navigation, some can now switch between GPS, Russia's Glonass or China’s Baidu satnav systems.
“There is also directional versus omnidirectional jamming. Many people think that an omnidirectional antenna makes a bubble, an area of denial. But those bubbles are typically small, and they require a lot of power to maintain. So that's a very brute force approach.
“With directional jammers, we have a tight beam, which you need to focus exactly on the target and maintain it on the target which could be moving very fast. And with all cases, you will have a certain drop-off in the signal.”
The speed problem is also becoming an issue with new Russian and Iranian drones, jointly developed, that are rocket-assisted.
“You jam the communications module, say, on a Shahed drone, a common Iranian weapon. The problem you're facing is those drones are outfitted with an inertial navigation system, so it has an onboard compass. It knows relatively where it started, where it needs to go, and which direction it's hitting.
Mr Markov says even though inertial systems are not very accurate, they are accurate enough to hit oil refineries that could be several kilometres across in size. “Jammers are good, but you cannot fully rely solely on jammers.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
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More coverage from the Future Forum
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
More on animal trafficking
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
