Killer drones are become an increasingly prominent part of modern warfare, used by both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict – and to dramatic effect by Iran at the start of this month.  

The Islamic Republic shocked the world by launching strikes on a number of Gulf countries in retaliation for the US-Israel missile bombardment which killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026. 

In total, Iran has launched nearly 5,000 missiles and drones at its neighbours, according to recent figures from Al Arabiya, hitting US bases, five-star hotels and oil refineries in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

But as the capabilities of military drones grows ever more sophisticated, so does the technology developed to combat them. 

On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s War on Tape, foreign correspondent Chris Pleasance heads to one of the world’s biggest arms fairs to meet the manufacturers creating the tools to detect and bring down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

The most obvious way of taking out a drones may appear to be to shoot them down, although this is not as strauightforward as it seems.

Traditionally the Armed Forces relied on missiles such as the Aster 30, which has a long range and is extremely accurate – but each unit costs around £3million.

That is a huge sum when set against the cost of the aggressor drone, which cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds.  

Foreign correspondent Chris Pleasance visited one of the world’s biggest arms fairs to learn about the technology used to take down military drones

Plumes of smoke and flame rise after debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026

As a result, a number of defence companies are looking to find ways of shrinking the anti-drone missiles to make them more affordable – without losing their accuracy. 

Saab’s new Nimbrix missiles are only 3ft long, weigh less than 7lb, can fly up to three miles and costs in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Another new warhead on the market uis the Frankenburg Mark I. At 60cm it’s even smaller than Nimbrix – the size of a baguette – can fly up to one and a half miles, and costs £40,000 a pop. 

At the Defence And Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2026 conference in London’s Excel Centre, Pleasance spoke to Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies and former Permanent Secretary to the Estonian Ministry of Defence 

He said: ‘This is the smallest ever guided missile, that makes it special and is also how we bring the affordability.

‘If we speak about short range missiles, initially they were built [to attack] against helicopters.

‘In the seventies, there was the Stinger and Mistral – they are all very good missiles, but the problem is they are very expensive.

‘Now what we saw in Ukraine last weekend, there was a record, more than 800 Shahads that have a warhead of 50 kilos or more were shot against Ukrainian targets. 

Saab’s new Nimbrix missiles (pictrured) are only 3ft long, weigh less than 7lb, and can fly up to three miles. They cost in the tens of thousands of dollars – as opposed to £3million for an Aster 30

Kusti Salm (right), CEO of Frankenburg Technologies and former Permanent Secretary to the Estonian Ministry of Defence, shows off a 2ft Frankenburg Mark missile to the Mail’s Chris Pleasance

A graphic showing the technical specifications of a Shahed-136 ‘suicide’ drone – a model used frequently by Iran in recent weeks 

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE: How to defeat drones in the Iran war and Ukraine

‘The manufacturing of the long-range drones that carry warheads is now around 100 a day and is increasing by a factor of four every year, so this year 30-40,000, next year more than 100,000.

‘The only way to stop this madness is to come up with something that is cheaper by cost and readily available.’  

An alternative method to shooting drones down from the sky is to block the frequencies they use to navigate and communicate. 

Jammers work by broadcasting a very powerful signal which overwhelms that communication, basically drowning it out and causing the drone to crash.

However, some militaries have got around this by using drones with fibre-optic cables, meaning there is no airborne sign to be intercepted. 

And some drones like the Shaheds, used widely by the Iranians, don’t have a pilot and thus cannot be jammed.

That leads to perhaps the most science fiction-sounding solution to the drone menace: shooting them down with giant lasers. 

Like missiles, these shoot drones out of the sky – but rather than using explosives, they use a super intense beam of energy.

This is focused on the drone, basically cooking it. The electrics are frazzled and sometimes it bursts into flames, causing it to crash. 

But like the jammers, the only thing you’re using up when you fire them is electricity, meaning they have a cost per shot of just a few cents.

There are drawbacks though – the lasers are heavy and require a lot of power in the form of a large battery, meaning they’re not super practical.

And while they’ve been successfully tested, they’re largely unproven in combat. Rain, smoke, even reflective surfaces on the drone may stop them working.