Hammerless 'Sickle': Russia Successfully Tests New Anti-Drone System

The state-of-the-art defense system claims to be able to cut off UAVs from their operators and satellite navigation systems, making drones unflyable.

Russia has successfully tested a new advanced anti-drone system at an unspecified piece of “energy infrastructure” somewhere in the country, according to a press release issued by the designer company.

The Serp-VS5D is the latest addition to the Serp (lit. Sickle) line of anti-drone systems made by the Ruselectronics holding’s Vektor Research Institute, a subsidiary of Russia’s defense conglomerate Rostec.

How Does Serp Work?

When deployed, Serp-VS5D detection components constantly monitor the guarded area for signal exchanges between drones and their operators. When such a signal is detected, Serp’s anti-drone components come into play as the system immediately starts suppressing signals in the corresponding bandwidths.

Serp-VS5D anti-drone system

© Photo : Research Institute "Vector"

Serp’s countermeasures effectively deprive drone operators of the ability to control their UAVs. The system also cuts off drones from satellite navigation systems such as GPS, thus preventing these drones from completing their mission autonomously.

Serp-VS5D can engage drone targets at a range of up to five kilometers “in clear visibility,” the press release stated, noting that the system can be used against drone swarms as well.

While Serp anti-drone systems monitor the airspace around them at a 360-degree angle, it can be switched to monitor selected 90-degree sectors to allow friendly drones to operate in the area.

Serp-VS5D anti-drone system

© Photo : Research Institute "Vector"

What Signals Can Serp System Suppress?

According to the information available on Vektor’s website, Serp-VS systems can suppress signals in several bandwidths ranging from 300 to 5,600 MHz and disrupt signals from satellite navigation systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou.