Well, well. We’ve never seen a listing like this before on Amazon. But sure enough, you can buy a drone-jamming gun on Amazon. And while we believe it would be legal to own, we have significant doubts about your ability to legally use it, at least in many jurisdictions.
We’ve written, frequently, about drone counter-measure devices. While there are indeed options that work by interfering with the Command and Control (C2) link, our understanding is that you can’t just go firing disruptive frequencies around without specific permission.
So while we’ll look at this post, it’s buyer beware.
Drone-jamming gun on Amazon
Yup. You can actually buy a drone-jamming gun on Amazon. The price is $5,800, and here’s the description, direct from the page:
- Supported frequency band: 1.5g, 2.45.8G 433M/900M/830M/1.3G
- Effective distance: ≥1500m Standby time: 4-7d
- Weight: 1.8-3.5kg (host machine + battery) time: ≥1.5-2.5h
So it’s good for nearly a mile – but doesn’t jam on the 5.4 Ghz bandwidth. We’re not permitted to just grab Amazon images. But if you’d like to have a look, here’s the listing.
Are these things legal?
In theory, they’re legal to own – but actually using them is another matter. Most countries have some sort of regulatory authority that lays down the law when it comes to frequency use. And the idea of a powerful device that can simply disrupt an entire bandwidth for close to a mile around? Well, that’s probably not on, depending on where you live.
In fact, we consulted the excellent website run by lawyer and pilot Jonathan Rupprecht and discovered this little gem, which cites the Communications Act of 1934:
47 U.S.C. Section 302(b) – Prohibits the manufacture, importation, marketing, sale or operation of unlicensed jammers within the United States (47 U.S.C. § 302a(b)) (Only exception is to the U.S. Government 302a(c)). Yes, you read that right. Depending on how you market counter drone measures, you could be doing something illegal! This section also prohibits the testing R & D of drone jammers on your own property. FCC laid the smack down on a Chinese company in 2014 with a fine of $34.9 million! Yes, you guessed it, the FCC order cited 302(b). Hobbyking found out that the FCC is very serious about the marketing of unlicensed radio transmitters when they received this FCC order.
So it’s quite possible the sale of this device just wouldn’t fly in the US.
Where could you use a drone-jamming gun?
Well, probably on the battlefield, or if you’re a member of law enforcement and have a very good reason for deploying. Other than that? Likely not so much.
But, hey – if you’re out in international waters and concerned about pirates scoping out your yacht by drone (oh, to have such problems), this could be the ticket. Just check to be sure with Amazon on refunds before placing your order – and check with authorities before actually testing the thing.
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