World Debates If Shooting Down $600 Drones Worth More Than $15 Million Jets

KEY POINTS

•Singapore hosted a massive airshow in early February with nearly 550 exhibitors showcasing aviation and defense technology.
•Highlighting growing drone threats, companies like Israel’s Skylock displayed two-handed jamming guns designed to disable enemy drones.
•IPG Defense introduced the CROSSBOW laser system, operable via Xbox controller, to thermally destroy drones with pinpoint accuracy.

At Singapore’s 11th biennial airshow this February, nearly 550 exhibitors showed us a future where drones are the new mosquitoes — annoying, possibly deadly, and begging for high-tech swatters. From Israel’s 13-pound, two-handed jamming gun Skybeam, which looks like someone combined a router with a bazooka, to Saab’s Loke software-assisted machine gun promising one-shot kills and future airburst rounds, the frontier of drone warfare swings between drone-on-drone taxi fights and laser death rays. IPG Defense, hailing from Massachusetts, displayed CROSSBOW—a laser-powered drone snuffer operated with an Xbox controller—bringing video game revenge fantasies to life. Meanwhile, typical Russian-style hobbyist drone grenades force everyone to realize modern air combat now feels like backyard BBQ fights upgraded with Rolls Royce engines and electromagnetic domes named ThunderShield that can zap Olympic-level crowds in France with 'invisible electromagnetic cones.' Welcome to the multitasking warzone, where small companies teem, giants lurk, and drones reign supreme, terrifying football stadiums and airports alike, all orchestrated under the slightly toasty Singaporean sun.