Military universal kill switch for drones

[mpa]

Interesting read on the link below, in summary what looks like a DJI drone had a uncommanded landing while it was already in the air just before a bomb/missile test. i know and had many experiences where the media like to spin stories to make it sound better, but details and witch hunting (on the operators) aside. Do you think there is a universal kill signal programmed into DJI drones used by the military to disable drones on command? or is this over dramatized and probably easily explained occurrence such as the operator veering into a NFZ?

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/private-drone-forced-to-the-ground-before-explosion-at-woomera-weapons-testing-ground/news-story/78c11cad2eb8f525c56559b47e367a8b

 

[Pathogen]

I would be surprised if there wasn't one.

 

[Logger]

..or is this over dramatized and probably easily explained occurrence such as the operator veering into a NFZ?

Pretty much about as Restricted as it get around here. So if DJI have not already made it a NFZ then they should.

 

[GerdS]

Just put your mobile into Airplane mode and there is no kill switch for sure.

 

[mpa]

Just put your mobile into Airplane mode and there is no kill switch for sure.

if there were a kill switch i would suspect it would be received by the drone itself. so airplane mode on your mobile wont help

 

[mpa]

if there were a kill switch i would suspect it would be received by the drone itself. so airplane mode on your mobile wont help

right on!

 

[GerdS]

Don't belief into the military having special DJI equipment for interfering the Ocusync or Lightbridge communication. May be easy to do for WIFI controlled drones.
Even for DJI drones they would need two different devices, now add all the other drones with their proprietary communication systems.
They can just disturb communication generally by wideband jammers and maybe force a drone into RTH this way. But even this doesn't work if the drone is flying a waypoint mission autonomously.

 

[peros550]

Are they able to remotely jam drone's GPS reception? If yes, that would force a drone into ATTI mode and it would cancel the waypoint mission.

 

[samd012]

Nothing to do with the controller or your connection, the technology exists

Dronegun | Drone Countermeasure | DroneShield

 

[wayy510]

Interesting read on the link below, in summary what looks like a DJI drone had a uncommanded landing while it was already in the air just before a bomb/missile test. i know and had many experiences where the media like to spin stories to make it sound better, but details and witch hunting (on the operators) aside. Do you think there is a universal kill signal programmed into DJI drones used by the military to disable drones on command? or is this over dramatized and probably easily explained occurrence such as the operator veering into a NFZ?

http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/private-drone-forced-to-the-ground-before-explosion-at-woomera-weapons-testing-ground/news-story/78c11cad2eb8f525c56559b47e367a8b

Yes, it's called DJIs *** kissing nanny software Ver.800.

 

[SkunkWerx's]

lolllllll don't think for one second that the Military can not take down your drone !!
I'm laughing because everyone thinks that DJI's or any other RC system is Bullet Proof lolllll ---- it's Not !!!!!!!
Everyone talks and thinks that special hardware or software is needed to take a drone down ---- Many over think the issue.
There are very SIMPLE ways to make your drone drop like a Rock, I'll mention one ----- a Laser, preferably a Green colored Laser pointer can do it . There is no kill switch built in lolllll

 

[Jim_bo]

lolllllll don't think for one second that the Military can not take down your drone !!
I'm laughing because everyone thinks that DJI's or any other RC system is Bullet Proof lolllll ---- it's Not !!!!!!!
Everyone talks and thinks that special hardware or software is needed to take a drone down ---- Many over think the issue.
There are very SIMPLE ways to make your drone drop like a Rock, I'll mention one ----- a Laser, preferably a Green colored Laser pointer can do it . There is no kill switch built in lolllll

I work with guys who are interested in developing counter UAS technology for the military. It's not nearly as easy as you think. However, if you know of simple ways to do it, I'd be more than interested to hear about your ideas.

 

[Flycaster]

Just jam everything on the 2.4 ghz range, even the 5 ghz, you don't think they can scramble everything on a specific frequency? They can sweep the frequencies to find out exactly which one they want to "kill" even a specific frequency.

It will either land, return to home or hover till the battery dies.

 

[Jim_bo]

Just jam everything on the 2.4 ghz range, even the 5 ghz, you don't think they can scramble everything on a specific frequency? They can sweep the frequencies to find out exactly which one they want to "kill" even a specific frequency.

It will either land, return to home or hover till the battery dies.

That's a fatal over-simplification. The drone doesn't NEED the data link. It's not too hard to program a flight plan for a drone that doesn't require anything from the operator. Just jamming command and control frequencies would only work for hobbyists.

 

[dwallersv]

Jamming your control signal and spoofing the bound controller is utterly trivial, if you have access to the (not very cutting-edge these days) technology.

What, do you rubes think the US Military is just now going, "Hey, Colonel Jackson! You seen these drone thingies? I just thought of how they might be a threat. We should start looking into this!"

Are you kidding? Phantoms of all generations have been torn apart, reverse-engineered, including the firmware. The ability to take over your aircraft is trivial if you have the engineering resources to figure it out. And it does not require any cooperation or features from DJI.

After all, how are YOU controlling it?

 

[Jim_bo]

Jamming your control signal and spoofing the bound controller is utterly trivial, if you have access to the (not very cutting-edge these days) technology.

What, do you rubes think the US Military is just now going, "Hey, Colonel Jackson! You seen these drone thingies? I just thought of how they might be a threat. We should start looking into this!"

Are you kidding? Phantoms of all generations have been torn apart, reverse-engineered, including the firmware. The ability to take over your aircraft is trivial if you have the engineering resources to figure it out. And it does not require any cooperation or features from DJI.

After all, how are YOU controlling it?

Your assumptions may be valid if all aggressor drones were Phantoms.

 

[dwallersv]

That's a fatal over-simplification. The drone doesn't NEED the data link. It's not too hard to program a flight plan for a drone that doesn't require anything from the operator. Just jamming command and control frequencies would only work for hobbyists.

They're not just going to jam. They're going to spoof your RC. And it's not hard (relatively speaking -- we're talking DARPA resources here, not Joe Hobbyist's workbench).

 

[dwallersv]

Your assumptions may be valid if all aggressor drones were Phantoms.

Really? Is that the depth of your thinking?

Someone else help this guy out. I can't bring myself to.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

The easiest way to force a drone down is to jam its control signals. Those interested in such know that the drone will either crash, land immediately (or when the battery gets low) or return to the operator depending on the model.

I don't know for a fact, but I guess the DJI control signals are encrypted. If this is on a paired device basis then it's unlikely the jammer can take control and fly the drone as he likes. 256 bit encryption would be more than ample and is quite quick to encode/decode when it's a shared key encryption.

In the Australia case it seems extreme - the distance from the test site to the drone is quite large - not sure where the control station for the test was v. the drone, but you'd have to pump out serious watts to jam that drone at a good distance.

As others have mentioned a drone can be set off on a waypoint mission and do its deeds. However the military also enjoy, from time to time, jamming GPS as part of their system tests and war games. That would put the drone into Atti mode and perhaps the operator could recover it but it would more likely hover and drift with the wind until the batteries were low. Land there.

I doubt that there is a special "military" take over mode that DJI provide the sauce for to the military - but that may not be the case in China. (Some stories refer).

DJI have begun the "if it ain't registered and logged in - it can't fly much" era of course...

Edit: added mode.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

They're not just going to jam. They're going to spoof your RC. And it's not hard (relatively speaking -- we're talking DARPA resources here, not Joe Hobbyist's workbench).

Spoofing is the easiest thing to avoid. Encrypt the control signal.

eg: If the control link is encrypted on a paired (a/c and RC) basis with 256 bit shared key encryption then they'd have to crunch at it for a few million ages of the universe just like everyone else.

Such encryption is trivial to implement and all but impossible to break. One way: When you link the two devices, they each generate a long random number (seeded with the date and time, serial number, seconds since power on, and other random events, etc.) and exchange with the other device. Then they each XOR the numbers together to make a shared 256 bit key. At that point all the computing power on earth, together, cannot brute force it. Then when transmitting control data, simply XOR with the key. Receiver does same to restore the control data. This needs various cleverness to overcome dropouts and so on - but the "enemy" simply cannot get the key and cannot spoof the controls.