If you're a nefarious person looking to cause some drone chaos in Tokyo, the police have ways to stop you.
No, they won't use a fancy EMP gun or real bullets to shoot your drone out of the sky. That might get a bit complicated. Instead, Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department will simply use another, larger drone equipped with a net to ensnare your device.
According to reports, Tokyo police only have one such net-wielding drone right now, and they'll be testing it out this month. A video posted by The Asahi Shimbun shows a six-propeller drone taking to the skies with a 10-foot net hanging below. It flies toward and then above a smaller drone, which is caught in the net and dragged to the ground.
If this month's test works out, Nikkei reports that police will officially roll it out with 10 drones.
As for why law enforcement would go through all this work just to equip a drone with a net, Tokyo police are envisioning a scenario whereby someone uses a drone to do more than just fly around, shoot photos, and annoy people. "Terrorist attacks using drones carrying explosives are a possibility. We hope to defend the nation's functions with the worst-case scenario in mind," a police official told The Asahi Shimbun.
In fact, the entire premise for the net-carrying drone came as a result of an April incident in which a drone carrying radioactive soil was found on top of the prime minister's office in the city. Since then, police have been contemplating how to best thwart potentially more serious incidents involving drones.
For Tokyo residents afraid that police will randomly rip their drone out of the sky, Nikkei says officials will warn pilots via loudspeaker before deploying the net drone.