In December, the Kyiv Post highlighted the Ukrainian military’s development of its own long-range tethered drones, indicating that “approximately 40 percent of the components [are] sourced locally in Ukraine, while the remainder is imported, mainly from China, due to limited domestic microelectronics manufacturing capabilities.”
Requests for comment from WIRED regarding potential risks or purchasing restrictions on such accessories—which are not weapons by design—went unanswered by Alibaba, the parent company of AliExpress, and Temu.
“I can’t think of a hobbyist who would want to fly a drone miles away tethered just to drop a water bottle in someone’s yard,” says Dave Torres, head of FPGA security at Red Balloon. “As a combat veteran, I’m accustomed to dealing with IEDs and the anxiety that comes with concerns over what might be buried in the ground. Now we have the capability to deploy our IED over anyone we may choose to target.”
Red Balloon specializes in the analysis of embedded device hardware and firmware, prompting researchers to examine the processors and low-level code that drive the fiber optic tethers and AI guidance systems. During their investigation of the tethers, they were surprised to find older, but notably expensive, reprogrammable chips known as “field programmable gate arrays” or FPGAs (an area of expertise for Torres). The use of these chips is significant, suggesting that these devices are engineered to be more adaptable and feature-rich than what a casual hobbyist would typically require. In contrast, the guidance modules primarily employ low-cost components, heavily relying on Chinese-made chips for their main processing unit.
“Upon first encountering the AI guidance components, one was boasting that it could recognize birds at distances of 30 meters and horses at 100 meters, but later it was updated simply to identify people and cars,” explains Cui. “It’s not about recognizing specific individuals or vehicle models, but the fact that they don’t even obscure the functionality anymore; these are indeed the target categories defined for this technology.”
Globally, counter-drone defense technology remains relatively underdeveloped. Just the appearance of unidentified aerial objects can lead to significant disruptions in places like airports or even the state of New Jersey. As WIRED reported in December, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been urging state and local law enforcement agencies since last summer to evaluate their readiness to counter weaponized drones. In a memo, DHS cautioned that violent extremists in the U.S. have been seeking ways to modify “off-the-shelf” quadcopters to carry armaments, including “explosives, conductive materials, and chemicals.”
Located in New York City, Red Balloon researchers discovered that the limited countermeasures currently available against malicious drones are unsuited for urban environments.
“The effective methods for neutralizing them involve machine guns, lasers, and powerful jammers—none of which can be safely deployed in a city,” noted Cui. “This is why Red Balloon concentrates on developing strategies that are viable in densely populated areas, aiming to track and neutralize drones without resorting to gunfire or jamming.”
Potential strategies could include engaging drones at the protocol and firmware levels to take control of them and guide them safely to the ground. The researchers underscore that the ultra-low-cost design and manufacturing of these drones afford no leeway for research and development, testing, or onboard security measures. This opens a vulnerability for operators but could also aid defenders in mitigating violent threats without causing collateral damage.
Currently, however, the rising availability of accessories that could arm conventional drones presents a significant danger with few straightforward solutions.
“An individual with a well-thought-out plan could inflict considerable damage at a remarkably low cost,” states Torres of Red Balloon. “I sometimes wonder if the U.S. military can even secure defense contractors willing to create such devices at the prices they’re being sold for online.”
