Watch This Drone Gun Take Down Drones In Flight

This drone gun won't destroy your drone, but it will take it down from over a mile away. By disabling signals keeping the drone afloat, such as GPS, the "DroneGun" can knock a drone off its course, keeping it from arriving at its destination.

DroneShield, the company that released the DroneGun on Monday, has clients in 35 different countries, each of which has its own rules for drone manipulation, according to Joshua Desmond, vice president of business development at the company. Within the United States, the company can sell DroneGun only to the military, federal prisons, the government, some police officers, and other VIPs, Desmond told Motherboard.

The DroneGun is a portable, three-pronged rifle-style device that requires no special training or set-up. "[It] can be operated by one person against a wide range of drone models," he said. Using frequencies such as GPS, GLONASS (Russian GPS), 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio bands, the DroneGun either has the drone return to its point of origin or safely land on the spot. If the drone returns to where it was launched, its pilot could be located, as well.

Currently, the DroneGun is not FCC authorized, so at this stage the overall American legislation is that only the federal government can use DroneGun. Eventually, though, Desmond hopes it will be useful for protection, especially in scenarios where people don't want to get too close to a drone. It can target illegal drone surveillance, drones dropping weapons, drugs, cellphones, and escape kits into prisons, and drone terrorism.

DroneGun is hardly failsafe given law enforcement's spotty track record, and the government's lack of transparency. But since drones continue to take various forms and carry out different tasks across the world, this might be one way to fight back when things go awry.

DroneShield isn't the only company to make drone block devices. Batelle, for instance, makes the DroneDefender, which operates through remote control disruption or GPS disruption. DroneShield, meanwhile, also offers drone detection. The combination of detecting a drone early enough, with the DroneGun itself, can help people know when to even use the gun, Desmond said.

"Drones are fairly quiet," Desmond said, pointing to one incident at Oklahoma State Penitentiary where the prison guards didn't know a drone was being utilized to drop off contraband until it crashed in the prison yard.

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