Small drones have become one of the most dangerous threats on today’s battlefields, in much the same way that improvised explosive devices were the dominant danger during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re cheap, deadly, and hard to counter. Quadcopters loaded with explosives or used for surveillance have destroyed tanks, stopped convoys in their tracks, and killed countless. The U.S. military has watched this play out and has been racing to catch up, on both offense and defense.

On the defensive side, things like laser weapons, large microwave systems that fry the drone’s electronics, and even advanced interceptor drones have been developed. But for a soldier on patrol in a small squad or out in a listening post, those large systems don’t do much for them. That’s where the Army’s

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