POLICE are to get anti-drone tech to combat airborne crime — including devices that look like rifles.
The £15million kit will be deployed against terrorists and organised gangsters.
It will also be used to stop drugs being flown into jails.
Home Office chiefs have approved three separate £5million deals to buy gun-like radio jammers which disable drones and also help identify their criminal controllers.
The devices can be either hand-held, like a pistol or rifle, mounted on a vehicle or used in a fixed position.
Details are revealed in contracts which show the Home Office wants “the next generation of hand-held radio frequency effector technology” for police to counter drones.
The firms awarded contracts — each lasting until June 2027 — are Steelrock Technologies, CPM Ellettronica and Kirintec.
Steelrock said “every hostile drone incursion puts people and critical assets at risk” while Kirintec said it supplies “counter uncrewed aerial systems for air defence and denial”.
Images from the companies show the technology being used in urban centres and dense woodland.
The devices will be run by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which co-ordinates action of counter-terrorism, fighting organised crime, public order and frontline policing.
Experts are increasingly concerned about the threat of drones from terrorists and spies.
