How the Pentagon is preparing for the coming drone wars

Instead of delivering packages, some have been configured to drop explosives. Instead of inspecting telecommunications towers, others train their cameras to monitor troops and pick targets. Instead of spraying crops, they could spread toxic gas, commanders worry.

.. Military strategists envision the day when they will be deployed in robot armies capable of swarming defenses in kamikaze raids.

.. the Pentagon is attacking what it sees as a potentially major threat, working to develop lasers and microwaves to blast drones from the sky.
.. Some soldiers already carry specially outfitted “anti-drone” rifles that, instead of firing bullets, use pulses across radio frequencies that interfere with the vehicles’ controls.
France and other countries have trained eagles and other birds of prey to attack enemy drones.

..  Or it could commandeer the vehicle and send it back to its operator, a technique that could help law enforcement authorities or soldiers locate the bad guys.

.. Prisons have seen the vehicles buzz over fences to smuggle in contraband.

.. Recently, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said he wanted every infantry squad to have its own quadcopter.