As drones become a bigger part of modern warfare, fighting forces are devising creative ways to disable them. The U.S. military recently demonstrated a drone interceptor that fires pink'Silly String'-like streamers at unmanned craft, gumming up their rotors and bringing them crashing down to Earth. The goal is to devise anti-drone technology that doesn't cause as much collateral damage as explosives, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and would be used in populated areas. DARPA began developing the interceptor, known as Counter-Unmanned Air System (C-UAS), four years ago as a means to stop small self-guided unmanned aircraft without the kind of major collateral damage caused by gunfire or explosives. In a video posted this week, DARPA demonstrated C-UAS at Eglin Air Force Base outside Valparaiso, Florida.

The US has developed a drone interceptor that fires what appears to be a form of Silly String into their rotors, bringing them down with minimal risk of accidental damage. The interceptor was created by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It is launched from a vehicle and guided by radar that can automatically identify and track small drones. Once the interceptor has a target drone in sight, it releases string-like streamers – their exact composition is unknown – to disable it. The system can also launch multiple interceptors to deal with several incoming drones simultaneously, and the interceptors are reusable. DARPA says it wants to provide drone defences for convoys and other mobile units in heavily populated areas, where normal military weapons would create too much risk of civilian casualties.