Russia Patents a Rocket-propelled “Net” to Ensnare Drones in Flight

A rocket-propelled net that can ensnare drones while in flight and bring them to earth has been patented by a Russian Institute.

Unlike other anti-drone devices that can shoot down hostile drones or disable their electronics, this new device equipped with special guidance unit to locate UAVs uses a net deployed at high speed around the drone while in flight.

Scientists from RFNC-VNIITF (Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics) have filed a patent for the drone a few days, Russian media reported.

In 2018, the U.S. patented a similar device, a net-carrying grenade-sized weapon that can ensnare a drone. The “net grenade” provided a countermeasure to cheap drones that’s almost as inexpensive as the drones themselves, according to Army Times report published back then.

Anti-air missiles like Patriots cost several million dollars while drones can be as cheap as few hundred dollars. Nets also hold an advantage over directional jammers in that they only have to hit the drone once to work. Directional jammers, while often portable and rifle-sized, have to stay focused on the target drone until the drone is brought down, or else risk the drone being able to receive signals from its remote pilot and detonate or fly away.