On the top floor of a squat Singapore industrial estate, wedged between a railway depot and water reclamation plant, is a young security firm that's shooting for the stars. Well, shooting for anything beneath the stars that shouldn't be there, technically speaking. TRD is one of the world's leading purveyors of anti-drone technology--a burgeoning industry worth some $1.1 billion last year and projected to grow to $7.4 billion by 2032. "Anti-drone is the hot topic right now," says TRD CEO Sam Ong, a former officer in the Singapore Armour Corps, where he specialized in tank technology. "Unmanned warfare is taking center stage, especially in the Ukraine war."

When it comes to national and international defense, drone warfare has placed itself firmly as one of the prime options these days. To understand the challenge at hand, let's first take a step back, and look at defense as a whole in general. The development of technologies such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing have made defense only more complicated. These complications have made military divisions more potent. But all this progress comes with a catch: this has largely evened-up the playing field as far as lower-mid-tier weaponry is concerned.

Raytheon has delivered an experimental new anti-drone weapon to the Air Force. The High Energy Laser Weapon Systems (HELWS) prototypes will be put through a year of testing and training by Air Force personnel overseas before finally being ready for live use on the battlefield. The HELWS can be powered by either a standard 220-volt outlet or a generator. Operators that aren't great shots can take comfort in the fact that the energy efficient device can fire'a nearly infinite number of shots.' The laser also comes with a sophisticated targeting system, with an infrared sensor to track and identify enemy drones, according to a report from Gizmodo.

Arms manufacturers are rushing to develop missile systems to take down drones. Arms makers are targeting the growing menace of drones at airports and on battlefields with a rush to develop new missile systems, radar jammers and laser cannons. U.S. forces, along with Middle East allies and Russian troops, have been forced to confront hostile drone operations. Commercial flights at some of the world's busiest hubs--in New York, London and Dubai--have been grounded in recent months amid concerns that nearby drones could endanger airliners. The rising number of incidents has put the threat in the public eye and propelled interest in anti-drone technology.

More than a decade after the improvised explosive device became the scourge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon is battling another relatively rudimentary device that threatens to wreak havoc on American troops: the drone. Largely a preoccupation of hobbyists and experimenting companies, the vehicles are beginning to become a menace on the battlefield, where their benign commercial capabilities have been transformed into lethal weapons and intelligence tools. Instead of delivering packages, some have been configured to drop explosives. Instead of inspecting telecommunications towers, others train their cameras to monitor troops and pick targets. Instead of spraying crops, they could spread toxic gas, commanders worry.

France will deploy anti-drone technology to interfere with and take control of any flying machines that violate no-fly zones over stadiums at the European Championship, part of unprecedented measures to secure Europe's biggest sports event since the Paris attacks in November. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Euro 2016 security chief Ziad Khoury said Tuesday that no-fly zones will be declared over all 10 stadiums as well as training grounds for the 24 teams at the June 10-July 10 tournament. "We've noted the general proliferation of drone-usage in society," Khoury said in his Paris office. "So no-fly zones will be defined over every training ground and every stadium, and in most stadiums and for most matches anti-drone measures -- which are quite innovative -- will be deployed, working with the state, which will interfere with drones and take control of them if they are spotted." French authorities have trained for the possibility of drones being used to disperse chemical weapons over crowds.