DroneGun takes down drones from 1.2 miles away

An Australian company has lauched DroneGun that allows individuals and authorities to protect their private spaces from the unmanned flying objects.

DroneShield's  DroneGun can "shoot" and disable an incoming drone without destroying ii by disabling drone signal and forcing it to land or fly back to where it came from.

The DroneGun is essentially a jammer, and not the first device of its kind. It has several competitors that are also capable of disabling signals such as GPS and GLONASS.

However, the DroneGun scores over its rivals with its two kilometres (1.2-mile) range. Rival devices are only effective over short distances, which could be dangerous especially if the target was carrying explosives.

The anti-drone device has a menacing look, resembling a bazooka capable of shooting projectiles. It is also quite light weighing close to 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds). On pulling the trigger, however, it only emits a jamming signal to take down drones.

DroneGun had one particularly interesting feature that could help law enforcers, which involved a "return to home function." The feature effectively allows tracking of erring drone operators. Also, thanks to the fact that DroneGun also leaves everything intact, forensic investigation is not compromised for drones used in criminal activities or even terrorism.

The Sydney-based company's rifle-shaped device is operated by a single person and used in conjunction with the company's drone sensor gear. The 6 kg DroneGun can take down rogue quadcopters and other remotely controlled flying machines up to 1.25 miles away.

Peter James CEO of DroneShield, said his target market included ''a wide range of customers from government and military agencies to civil infrastructure to VIP protection,'' www.digitaltrends.com reported.

According to DroneShield it was marketing its device globally ''to customers who are legally able to purchase it,'' which probably meant individuals would not be able to patrol the airspace over their home anytime soon.

Colman had bought his stake through an investment in a Lucas Venture Group fund, a venture capital fund, while Taubman-Dye acquired her shares for $19 apiece on SharesPost, a market for private-company shares. She tried to back out of the purchase after The Wall Street Journal raised questions about the validity of the technology, but could not.