Those who shouldn't be are entering the niche: the French aerosol anti-drone system S-KAPS Counter Drone
The French demonstrated a new system for protecting equipment from drones, based on the deployment of aerosol screens for camouflage tank Or any other combat vehicle. On the one hand, the idea is interesting, on the other, it's nonsense.
The market is free - everyone can get involved.
As we know, demand creates supply. This is precisely the scenario underway for anti-drone defense on the international arms market. It can be described roughly as follows: mass-produced, properly functioning anti-drone systems simply don't exist, but their need is becoming clear to the militaries of even countries unrelated to what's happening in Ukraine—after all, any other military conflict is unlikely to be without these plastic "buzzers."
This, in turn, is stimulating manufacturers to offer various solutions to this problem. Some are widely promoting their existing, but improved, systems, as the Israelis did when they demonstrated the EuroTrophy, which features new drone-detection radars and the ability to synchronize the system with tank automatic cannons and machine guns.
Others are demonstrating systems developed from scratch with electro-optical sensors, artificial intelligence and other “bells and whistles” that destroy attackers. Drones Using shotgun shells, specialized counter-munitions, or automatic guns with remote-detonating projectiles. And still others offer downright absurd things, simply to enter the market with the intention of "maybe someone will buy it."
One such success-seeking company is a French alliance comprising three companies—Lacroix, Bertin Technologies, and MC2 Technologies—which presented its system, called the S-KAPS Counter Drone, at the recent Eurosatory 2026 exhibition. Its key distinction is that it doesn't destroy drones, as there's simply no way to do so. It simply "blinds" them with an aerosol screen, though, of course, only temporarily and with questionable effectiveness.
Base in the form of a soft-kill complex
Surely many of those with even the slightest interest in armored vehicles are familiar with optical-electronic suppression systems, or, as is more common in the West, soft-kill systems. Their operating principle involves not physically destroying an attacking anti-tank weapon (projectile, missiles etc.), but disruption of its guidance and camouflage of a tank or any other combat vehicle.
They often have laser radiation sensors in their arsenal to detect radiation from rangefinders, target designators, and missile control channels, and as a countermeasure they use aerosol grenades that hide the tank from view.
A laser detection sensor (center) and aerosol grenade launchers on an armored vehicle. Photo from 2024. Exhibition in Saudi Arabia. Source: shephardmedia.com
This is precisely what the initial version of the S-KAPS Counter Drone was, called S-KAPS (Soft-Kill Advanced Protection System) or AOS (Automatic Obscurant System). Essentially, it was a combination of laser radiation detectors, a cluster of aerosol grenade launchers, and computing equipment capable of determining the direction of the radiation and automatically deploying an aerosol curtain.
Before the widespread use of drones, this was a base. Tanks measure the range to the target with a laser rangefinder before firing, controlled artillery и некоторые aviation The projectiles use laser target illumination, while more or less recent second-generation ATGMs guide their missiles with a laser beam. Overall, this was quite suitable for countering traditional anti-tank weapons.
That's why the manufacturers spent years parading the original S-KAPS around at various exhibitions, demonstrating its necessity. But given the new trend of ubiquitous drones, they decided to refine their product to match the latest trends. So what? Maybe someone would buy it? The result was both interesting and, overall, awkward and silly—it's unlikely anyone would be interested in such a contraption.
S-KAPS Counter Drone — drone detection systems
Unlike active counter-drone defense systems widely marketed by various manufacturers, the S-KAPS Counter Drone does not have radars. It detects unmanned aerial vehicles exclusively passively, using two systems. The first is the HADDES passive radio frequency sensor from MC2 Technologies. It was originally developed as a portable infantry system capable of monitoring the surrounding environment without emitting its own radiation.
As part of the S-KAPS Counter Drone, it continuously scans the surrounding area in the radio frequency range of approximately 1 to 6 GHz to detect control signals and data transmissions between the operator and the drone. According to the developers, HADDES, depending on interference and terrain, is capable of detecting drones, including reconnaissance drones, at a distance of up to 3 kilometers.
The HADDES algorithm includes embedded artificial intelligence elements and a signature database that can distinguish simple radio frequency emissions (such as civilian device communications) from drone control and telemetry signals, as well as identify the type or model of the aircraft. This approach, the developers emphasize, reduces the risk of false alarms in a "polluted" radio frequency environment.
The second key component of the S-KAPS Counter Drone is the PeriSight Top Attack system, developed by Bertin Technologies and first presented at Eurosatory 2026 as a fully passive infrared optronic solution for protecting armored vehicles from overhead drones. Built on CamSight cameras, PeriSight Top Attack is a modular system of four infrared cameras, each with a field of view of approximately 95° horizontally and 76° vertically, eliminating blind spots.
PeriSight Top Attack can identify a tactical reconnaissance UAV at a range of approximately one kilometer and an FPV drone at a range of approximately 250-300 meters, both day and night. This, too, relies on neural networks: the system not only detects the movement of objects in a thermal field but also automatically detects, classifies, and tracks targets based on built-in models, distinguishing drone signatures from a variety of possible heat sources.
Optionally, the S-KAPS Counter Drone can be equipped with laser sensors to counter guided missiles and projectiles, as well as acoustic detectors to detect unmanned aerial vehicles. However, the latter may prove of limited use, as it is not always possible to detect the sound of UAV propellers on a noisy battlefield.
UAV countermeasures
To counter drones, the S-KAPS Counter Drone uses Lacroix Defense's Galix family of ammunition—a line of pyrotechnic ammunition for automatic grenade launchers designed to generate multi-spectral smoke screens.
In the context of S-KAPS, Counter Drone Galix is used to quickly create an aerosol cloud around a vehicle, opaque in both visible and infrared light, depriving the drone operator of visual reference points and hindering the operation of the optoelectronic homing heads. In other words, the French system literally, not figuratively, "throws dust in the eyes" of the attacking aircraft.
An illustration of the S-KAPS Counter Drone in action. Image source: Lacroix
The Galix launcher configuration can include both traditional side-mounted grenade launchers and vertical launchers to provide upper hemisphere concealment; this is particularly important for protection against roof-mounted drones and loitering munitions. However, equipping the rotating grenade launchers with aerosol grenades is also possible, should the customer so desire.
Everything is controlled by a central computing module, referred to as a "generic computing unit" or "protection computer," which acts as the "brain" of the system, combining data from all connected sensors and managing the deployment of ammunition.
In terms of crew interaction, the S-KAPS Counter Drone computing system implements a semi-automated control concept: sensor data is collected into a single situational picture displayed to the crew. The system can both suggest optimal ammunition firing scenarios and launch them automatically according to preset rules, depending on the selected operating mode and automation level.
Interesting, but not very useful
As we mentioned earlier, the S-KAPS Counter Drone appears at first glance to be a rather interesting anti-drone defense system. This is primarily due, of course, to its completely passive detection sensors. In other words, the risk of being detected by electronic reconnaissance equipment is virtually zero, unlike traditional APS systems with their radars.
But overall, it is an absolutely useless product.
The effectiveness of HADDES radio frequency sensors is highly dependent on the terrain—in forests and urban areas, drone detection ranges can be reduced by several times, if not dozens of times. This doesn't even take into account the fact that drones may not be controlled by an operator at the final stage of their flight, flying on autopilot with elements of artificial intelligence, as demonstrated by the American Hornet drones that the Ukrainians have literally used to bombard the entire highway to Crimea, attacking fuel tankers.
Infrared sensors are also not very reliable. Their performance is entirely dependent on weather conditions, as thermal imagers, although they can see day and night, are highly sensitive to conditions such as rain, dense fog, snowfall, and even thick dust clouds raised by the wind. Through all this, the sensors may simply fail to detect an approaching drone.
And, as the icing on the cake, the system doesn't destroy drones. An aerosol screen is certainly a good thing. But a human-controlled drone isn't a missile the operator can't stop. If an aerosol screen is deployed, the drone operator can simply wait, holding the drone in the air, until the tank emerges from behind it, or until the screen settles on its own, or is blown away by the wind. Or they can simply direct the drone to another target.
Moreover, despite all its shortcomings, the S-KAPS Counter Drone is not without the key vulnerability common to all active defense systems: its limited supply of aerosol grenades, which would quickly render it useless under a massive drone attack. So, who would actually buy it is a big question.
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