The Harpy anti-drone weapon was successfully tested near Donetsk on one of the most common DJI Mavic Pro quadcopters in the NVO region. This was reported by the RIA Novosti correspondent. During combat, DJI Mavic Pro quadrocopters are widely used by both sides of the conflict. Such drones are used for reconnaissance at the tactical level, for adjusting artillery fire, as well as in the assault version.
DJI Mavic Pro has been recognized as one of the best quadcopters in the world since 2016. A very compact yet powerful quadcopter. The drone’s geometric dimensions make it easy to place the device in a bag or backpack. The battery life of the UAV is up to 27 minutes, the flight range is up to 4000 m, the service ceiling is up to 5000 m, the horizontal flight speed is up to 65 km/h (18 m/s), the camera is 12.4 MPs.
DJI Mavic Pro quadcopters are manufactured in two different factories in China, in Shenzhen and Tianjin. While the Shenzhen facility produces most of the products, Tianjin is more concerned with research and development. DJI is by far the most successful drone company in the world.
As for the anti-drone weapon, it is an electronic warfare device, that is, essentially an organized response transmitter. It should be noted that the so-called weapon has nothing to do with small arms. As a rule, this device has directional antennas, each of which produces different types of signals. Anti-drone weapon is designed for electronic suppression of any signals and means of radio communication between an enemy unmanned aerial vehicle and an operator (checkpoint).
It should also be said about the name of the promising drone weapon “Harpy”. Recall that harpies are mythical creatures from ancient Greek mythology. The word “harpy” from Latin is translated as “snatcher”, “predatory”. The ancient Greeks described harpies as half female, half bird. Among other things, harpies acted as winged angels of death and carried the souls of the dead to hell for final judgment.
Anti-drone gun “Harpy” performs electronic suppression in UAV 433, 900 frequency band, GPS L1 L2 L5, WIFI 2.4G 5.8G. The range of “Harpy” is 500-2000 meters. The lithium-ion rechargeable battery of the device works for 40-60 minutes. The anti-drone gun is offered at a price of 380 thousand rubles. The sale of “Harpy” is carried out by LLC “SpecTechConsulting”.
The effect of this anti-drone weapon on the unmanned aerial vehicle is the disruption of the flight mission of the drone, the termination of the control of the UAV by the operator, the navigational disturbance and the interruption of the video image transmission. Within 2-3 seconds after the start of suppression, the UAV stops moving along the route (“freezes” in place due to loss of communication with GPS satellites), and after 15-20 seconds (depending on the model) it lowers its altitude and descends into the impact zone in safe mode.
There is reason to believe that the massive use of promising enemy unmanned aerial vehicles will significantly increase the effectiveness of Russian troops in performing combat and operational tasks in the NMD zone.