Smoke / Obscurant Screen
Passive DefenseOpen-Source Verified
Smoke grenades, vehicle-mounted smoke generators, or large-area obscurant systems that block visual and infrared sensors on drones. Prevents visually-guided drones from acquiring or tracking targets. A simple, cheap, and immediately available passive defense.
How It Works
Smoke canisters or generators produce dense clouds of particles that block visible light and, with specialized compositions (hexachloroethane, brass/titanium mixes), also block infrared wavelengths. This denies visually-guided drones the ability to see and track targets through the smoke. Some modern obscurants can also attenuate laser beams.
Technical Specifications
range
50-500 m coverage area
cost
$10-500 per grenade, $5,000-$50,000 for vehicle system
deployment Time
Immediate (grenades) to minutes (generators)
crew Required
1 soldier (grenades) to 2-4 (systems)
weight
0.5 kg (grenade) to 200 kg (vehicle system)
power Requirement
None (grenades) to vehicle power
Advantages
- + Extremely cheap and widely available
- + Immediately deployable by any soldier
- + Blocks visual AND infrared sensors with proper mix
- + Effective against all visually-guided drones
- + No electronic signature — cannot be jammed
- + Can protect large areas quickly
Disadvantages
- − Temporary — wind disperses smoke rapidly
- − Also blocks friendly observation
- − Ineffective against radar-guided or GPS-guided drones
- − Requires constant re-deployment
- − Health hazard in enclosed spaces
- − Does not stop the drone — only blinds it
Tactical Deployment Tips
- ▸ Deploy smoke immediately when drone is spotted approaching
- ▸ Use multispectral smoke (IR-blocking) against thermal-equipped drones
- ▸ Combine with movement — use smoke to break contact
- ▸ Pre-position smoke pots along likely approach routes
- ▸ Train crews to deploy smoke as automatic drill on drone alert
Limitations & Vulnerabilities
- ⚠ Wind and weather rapidly degrade effectiveness
- ⚠ Only works against visually-guided weapons
- ⚠ Friendly forces also lose situational awareness
- ⚠ Cannot stop GPS or RF-guided munitions
Drones It Defeats
Drone types ranked by how well this system defeats them — tap any drone for details
FPV Kamikaze DroneHighAI-Autonomous Strike DroneHighCommercial COTS QuadcopterMediumMilitary Reconnaissance QuadcopterMediumHeavy-Lift FPV BomberMediumFiber-Optic Guided FPVMediumSmall Loitering MunitionMediumCoordinated Drone SwarmMediumTethered Surveillance DroneMediumMicro / Nano DroneMediumAcoustic-Stealth RotaryMediumConverted Agricultural Heavy-LiftMediumAdversary Interceptor DroneMediumKinetic Impact / Ramming DroneMediumTactical Fixed-Wing UAVLowMALE / HALE Strategic UAVLowLarge Loitering MunitionLowHeavy-Lift Cargo / Resupply UAVLowMini ISR Fixed-WingLowVTOL Fixed-Wing HybridLowCBRN / Hazmat DroneLowWinged Glide MunitionLowOne-Way Attack Cruise DroneLowNaval USV / UUVNoneJet-Powered UCAVNoneDecoy / Electronic Warfare DroneNoneHigh-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS)NoneMothership / Carrier UAVNoneSea-Skimming Attack USVNone