From drone-catching drones to drone-jamming guns, anti-UAV technology has rapidly changed in the past three years. To appreciate just how much technology has progressed, take a look at how difficult it was to use bullets to down flying drones:
The video of the helicopter door gunner shooting a target drone was released on YouTube in 2015. According to AiirSource, the target practice was conducted by the US Navy off the coast of Naval Air Station Point Mugu in California. The exercise was part of Operation Black Dart, which is the Department of Defense’s annual event for testing counter-UAV technology.
Screenshot taken from AiirSource Military’s YouTube video.
While the helicopter was moving, the gunner unloaded round after round towards what appears to be a fixed-wing drone. It took nearly a minute’s worth of continuous bullets from the machine gun to down the drone, but once the UAV was hit, it swirled into the sea.
Another perspective shows the MH-60R helicopter flying next to the drone target. This angle shows how far the drone was from the gunner.
