Quora Answer: How Would a Ground-Based Army Protect Itself from a Drone Swarm?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How would a ground-based army protect itself from a swarm of drones?” 

Drone are not fully autonomous.  We have not invented true artificial intelligence yet.  They need to be controlled from somewhere, and that means there is an electronic data link which can be jammed, or in some cases, even hacked.  In the case of asymmetrical warfare, drones often use Wi-Fi or local bandwidths, which make them easier to jam because they are not as secure as compared to a link from satellite, which a modern military uses. 

The second consideration is that drone swarm are small.  Large drones are horrendously expensive, and the swarm size is limited by the telecommunications infrastructure.  In a war situation, much of that would either be jammed, or the local infrastructure destroyed.  The small size of the drones in the swarm also limits payload.  We are looking at small rockets, not missiles, due to weight.  We are looking at small calibre arms with limited ammunition capacity, not large calibre arms due to the recoil. 

Finally, a modern military is unlikely to travel without an air defence umbrella of some sort.  The guns that can shoot down low flying aircraft and helicopters with proximity fuses will be just as effective against drones.  Drones are most effective when used to sneak up on targets to paint it, and shoot, and then leave.  Drone swarms are not sneaky.  They are an obvious glass cannon.