New Counter-Drone Tech Captures, Not Destroys

Dec 6, 2025

(Source: iHLS)

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Unauthorized drones have become a persistent security challenge for airports, stadiums, prisons, and other sensitive locations. These sites increasingly rely on perimeter sensors, but identifying and stopping a hostile drone in flight remains difficult—especially when traditional countermeasures risk debris, collateral damage, or radio-frequency interference. German researchers have now introduced a system designed to solve this problem with a more controlled and autonomous approach.

Engineers at Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg have developed an interceptor drone built specifically to track and capture intruding UAVs using a net rather than kinetic force or electronic disruption.

The core challenge addressed by the researchers is reliable target identification. In crowded airspace, radar and optical sensors often struggle to distinguish drones from birds or other airborne objects. The interceptor drone resolves this by combining LiDAR-based detection with AI-driven image recognition. LiDAR sweeps the surrounding airspace to spot a potential intruder, while the onboard camera verifies that the object is indeed a drone before any interception begins.

According to Interesting Engineering, once a target is confirmed, the system conducts the entire engagement autonomously. It positions itself and deploys an extendable mid-air net designed to ensnare the rogue drone while keeping it largely intact. Preserving the captured drone is important for forensics, allowing security teams to analyze its hardware, payload, and potential origin. After capture, the interceptor carries the trapped UAV to a pre-selected safe landing zone.

For defense and homeland security applications, such systems offer an alternative to jamming, GPS spoofing, or hard-kill countermeasures—options that may be unsuitable in populated areas or around critical infrastructure. An autonomous net-based interceptor can neutralize threats without electronic interference or uncontrolled debris, making it particularly relevant for civilian sites with strict safety requirements.

The design also favors simplicity. Rather than employing multiple cooperative drones, the system uses a single, larger platform to reduce operator workload and limit coordination failures during real incidents. Security personnel only need to activate the drone; from that point on, navigation, pursuit, and capture are handled automatically.

With the current system complete, the research team is already considering additional concepts for future autonomous counter-drone tools, reflecting the growing need for precise and reliable UAV defense in both civil and security environments.