FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with an attached Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) generation device capable of disabling all approaching UAVs.

BACKGROUND

Today, UAVs are ubiquitous in the commercial market place. They can be equipped with a wide variety of tools and features to enable a diverse set of functionality. As drone technology becomes more sophisticated and the costs of such drones decreases, the use of drones will continue to increase. Troublemakers can attempt to disrupt events or places of business by operating a large number of drones which can bypass or overwhelm security measures.

Attempts have been made to counter UAVs. U.S. Pat. No. 9,896,221 proposes a device and method to defeat approaching drones by a capturing UAV with a deployable net attached to the fuselage of the UAV. The net may be deployed from (and remain attached to) the UAV fuselage via a mechanical structure with the goal of “ensnarling” the approaching UAV in the net. A similar approach to the 221' patent, a net attached to the capturing UAV, can be found in U.S. Patent Application 2016/0023760466466.

Although there exist solutions for dealing with single UAVs or multiple close UAVs, there still exists a need for a device and method to disable/destroy a plurality of UAVs disbursed over a wide expanse (e.g., across an airport). The present invention addresses this need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, the present invention is directed to airborne security measures and more specifically to a device and method to defeat in total a plurality of approaching Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with a single sacrificial intercepting drone. The invention discloses attaching an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) generating device to a sacrificial interceptor UAV and via remote pilot wireless control, flying the said interceptor UAV into the centroid of the attacking “swarm” and activating the EMP generating device with the goal of disabling or possibly destroying the onboard electronics in the approaching UAVs by way of the following effect.

Electronic devices, especially computer based devices, are particularly vulnerable to EMP effects, as they are largely composed of high density Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) devices, which are very sensitive to exposure to high voltage transients. What is significant about MOS devices is that very little energy is required to permanently wound or destroy them, any voltage typically in excess of 10 Volts can produce an effect termed gate breakdown which effectively destroys the device. Even if the pulse itself is not powerful enough to produce total destructive damage, the power supply in the equipment will readily supply enough energy to complete the destructive process. Wounded devices may still function, but their reliability will be seriously impaired. Shielding electronics by equipment chassis provides only limited protection, as any cables running in and out of the equipment will function as an antenna, in effect guiding the high voltage transients into the equipment.

Other electronic devices and electrical equipment may also be destroyed by the EMP effect. Telecommunications equipment can be highly vulnerable, due to the presence of copper leads/cables between devices. Receivers of all varieties are particularly sensitive to EMP, as the highly sensitive miniature high frequency transistors and diodes in such equipment are easily destroyed by exposure to high voltage electrical transients. Therefore, radar and electronic equipment, satellite, microwave, UHF, VHF, HF and low band communications equipment and video equipment are all potentially vulnerable to the EMP effect. Given this, the activation of the interceptor UAV EMP generating device may also interrupt, or completely destroy, any wireless communication from a remote pilot commanding the incoming swarm.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention describes an interceptor UAV for simultaneously disabling a plurality of incoming UAVs comprising a generally cylindrical fuselage, a propulsion system, the said propulsion system including a means to power at least one propeller, at least one control surface, a guidance system in mechanical communication with the at least one control surface, the said guidance system in wireless communication and responsive to wireless commands received from a remote pilot, an electro-magnetic pulse generating device attached to the generally cylindrical fuselage, and a means to activate the said electro-magnetic pulse generating device.

