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Here we have the latest Ukrainian drones resistant to Russian countermeasures.[1] There are Japanese drones able to not only survive lightning strikes, but guid

Here we have the latest Ukrainian drones resistant to Russian countermeasures.[1] There are Japanese drones able to not only survive lightning strikes, but guide them.[2] Because the Russia-Ukraine war is so active, drones that can survive RF weapons can be expected essentially immediately. Ukraine fields a new generation of drones every three months. They have to. [1] https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-tests-new-kamikaze-drones-resistant-to-russian-jamming/ https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-tests-new-kamikaze-drone... [2] https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/04/japan-has-successfully-used-drones-to-trigger-and-guide-lightning-strikes-announcing-a-new-era-of-storm-control/ https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/04/japan-has-successfully-used-...

varjag 1y ago
You're talking about comms jamming, which has been mostly useless in Ukraine for some time now. Leonidas appears to use directed EMI upset of digital circuits as a mechanism. No existing quadcopter design is immune. And while designing an immune drone is possible, it will be an entirely different cost proposition.
- devttyeu 1y ago
  Put sensitive electronics in a metal box, comms over a fiber (already common), and you’re good to go. Only tricky thing is if currents induced in motors are too hard to reject in driver circuitry, tho even at the extreme this should be possible to insulate with capacitors (or worse/heavier with transformers)
  - varjag 1y ago
    Sounds like a great plan if you don't need a camera, positioning and magnetic compass. You also want your cage grounded or very thick, otherwise with sufficiently strong field it will become preemable.
    - pulse7 1y ago
      You can put camera in transparent Faraday cage. With camera and gyro one can do basic positioning...
      - XorNot 1y ago
        Basic yes, but drones are precision strike weapons by necessity: they can't carry enough payload to kill everything in a 50m radius for example. They depend on generally nailing a single target with cm-level precision. And all that stuff is a new supply chain and more weight which isn't payload. That a countermeasure can be built doesn't mean it's necessarily effective to do so - your drones get less cheap, less numerous, you have to incorporate such systems into tactical and strategic planning.
        imtringued 1y ago
        Also you can't buy the drones off AliExpress anymore. This shouldn't be underestimated, because all the drone swarm wet dreams were built on this.
        ReptileMan 1y ago
        >payload to kill everything in a 50m radius for example. cluster heads solve this beautifully because 1kg of high explosive kills everything good enough in 5 meters radius.
        XorNot 1y ago
        Which is still nothing in terms of area lethality terms. For comparison, the Excalibur GPS guided artillery shell was considered precision because it would hit within 5m reliably. Compare to the lethal range of a 155mm, where the kill radius is 50m and casualty at 100m.
        ReptileMan 1y ago
        155mm has payload of around 7kg.
  - cyberax 1y ago
    Or you can put motors inside the cage, with purely mechanical linkage to the propellers.
    - varjag 1y ago
      You'd have to make sure the linkages are not conductive and there is not even a 1mm clearance on their ports in the enclosure. Non-metal axles are possible but it's hard to find material that would withstand the torque. You also need to think through your cooling solution. Enclosed batteries, converters and motors will generate a lot of heat over typical mission, and you don't have the benefit of direct air cooling anymore.
      - amluto 1y ago
        How about using a metal axle that penetrates the cage using an intentionally conductive bearing, i.e. a slip ring? It would need very low RF impedance, but it would only need to last for the expected lifespan of the drone. At just a few GHz, metal mesh ought to be adequate for the cage material, so cooling isn’t necessarily a huge problem.
  - topspin 1y ago
    > Only tricky thing is if currents induced in motors Many of the drones in the Russia-Ukraine war are powered by ICEs. I'm thinking of Ukraine's long range drones presently deleting Russia's refinery distillation towers, fixed radar installations, parked aircraft, ammo dumps, etc. Those engines are not purely mechanical, but purely mechanical engines have been widespread and are still commonplace today. A 2-stroke diesel being one example, but even gas turbines can be purely mechanical. So one can imagine such an adaptation in response to microwave countermeasures.
  - Animats 1y ago
    The motor drive side probably isn't that vulnerable, since that's the output side of large power transistors, but the Hall-effect sensors and current sensing in brushless DC motors might be a problem. But you don't have to use brushless motors. They last longer, but drones are ammo, not assets, today.
russfink 1y ago
Pika-CHUUUUU! Wow. Now only if they could weaponize lightning strikes.
- animuchan 1y ago
  Taping a grenade to it (instead of the lightning guidance thing) will be probably as efficient or more, as a weapon. If they could weaponize earthquakes instead, now that'd be brilliant.
- egberts1 1y ago
  Yes, that has already been achieved by dropping a fine spool of thin “aluminum” wire over the target enemy’s position and then climbing up to 1,500’ altitude during a thunderstorm.

varjag 1y ago

You're talking about comms jamming, which has been mostly useless in Ukraine for some time now. Leonidas appears to use directed EMI upset of digital circuits as a mechanism. No existing quadcopter design is immune. And while designing an immune drone is possible, it will be an entirely different cost proposition.

devttyeu 1y ago
Put sensitive electronics in a metal box, comms over a fiber (already common), and you’re good to go. Only tricky thing is if currents induced in motors are too hard to reject in driver circuitry, tho even at the extreme this should be possible to insulate with capacitors (or worse/heavier with transformers)
- varjag 1y ago
  Sounds like a great plan if you don't need a camera, positioning and magnetic compass. You also want your cage grounded or very thick, otherwise with sufficiently strong field it will become preemable.
  - pulse7 1y ago
    You can put camera in transparent Faraday cage. With camera and gyro one can do basic positioning...
    - XorNot 1y ago
      Basic yes, but drones are precision strike weapons by necessity: they can't carry enough payload to kill everything in a 50m radius for example. They depend on generally nailing a single target with cm-level precision. And all that stuff is a new supply chain and more weight which isn't payload. That a countermeasure can be built doesn't mean it's necessarily effective to do so - your drones get less cheap, less numerous, you have to incorporate such systems into tactical and strategic planning.
      - imtringued 1y ago
        Also you can't buy the drones off AliExpress anymore. This shouldn't be underestimated, because all the drone swarm wet dreams were built on this.
      - ReptileMan 1y ago
        >payload to kill everything in a 50m radius for example. cluster heads solve this beautifully because 1kg of high explosive kills everything good enough in 5 meters radius.
        XorNot 1y ago
        Which is still nothing in terms of area lethality terms. For comparison, the Excalibur GPS guided artillery shell was considered precision because it would hit within 5m reliably. Compare to the lethal range of a 155mm, where the kill radius is 50m and casualty at 100m.
        ReptileMan 1y ago
        155mm has payload of around 7kg.
- cyberax 1y ago
  Or you can put motors inside the cage, with purely mechanical linkage to the propellers.
  - varjag 1y ago
    You'd have to make sure the linkages are not conductive and there is not even a 1mm clearance on their ports in the enclosure. Non-metal axles are possible but it's hard to find material that would withstand the torque. You also need to think through your cooling solution. Enclosed batteries, converters and motors will generate a lot of heat over typical mission, and you don't have the benefit of direct air cooling anymore.
    - amluto 1y ago
      How about using a metal axle that penetrates the cage using an intentionally conductive bearing, i.e. a slip ring? It would need very low RF impedance, but it would only need to last for the expected lifespan of the drone. At just a few GHz, metal mesh ought to be adequate for the cage material, so cooling isn’t necessarily a huge problem.
- topspin 1y ago
  > Only tricky thing is if currents induced in motors Many of the drones in the Russia-Ukraine war are powered by ICEs. I'm thinking of Ukraine's long range drones presently deleting Russia's refinery distillation towers, fixed radar installations, parked aircraft, ammo dumps, etc. Those engines are not purely mechanical, but purely mechanical engines have been widespread and are still commonplace today. A 2-stroke diesel being one example, but even gas turbines can be purely mechanical. So one can imagine such an adaptation in response to microwave countermeasures.
- Animats 1y ago
  The motor drive side probably isn't that vulnerable, since that's the output side of large power transistors, but the Hall-effect sensors and current sensing in brushless DC motors might be a problem. But you don't have to use brushless motors. They last longer, but drones are ammo, not assets, today.

russfink 1y ago

Pika-CHUUUUU! Wow. Now only if they could weaponize lightning strikes.

animuchan 1y ago
Taping a grenade to it (instead of the lightning guidance thing) will be probably as efficient or more, as a weapon. If they could weaponize earthquakes instead, now that'd be brilliant.
egberts1 1y ago
Yes, that has already been achieved by dropping a fine spool of thin “aluminum” wire over the target enemy’s position and then climbing up to 1,500’ altitude during a thunderstorm.