Cable-controlled drones are changing the counter-drone battlefield by eliminating the radio link that many traditional detection and jamming systems depend upon, forcing defenders to find the aircraft itself.
By Hezy Laing
A new Israeli radar is targeting one of the most difficult problems in modern drone warfare: finding an enemy aircraft that emits virtually no radio signal.
Developed by Israeli radar company Arbe Robotics, the new Alerion is an advanced radar that tracks movement in three dimensions and is designed to detect and follow FPV, mini, autonomous and cable-controlled drones, including those that cannot be found by systems searching for conventional radio signals.
The problem has become increasingly important as drones evolve.
Traditional anti-drone systems can use radio-signal sensors to detect communications between a drone and its operator, potentially allowing electronic attack and defense systems to interfere with the connection.
But fiber-optic drones create a major weakness in that approach.
Instead of communicating with their operators through radio waves, these drones can receive commands through a physical cable trailing behind them, meaning there may be no radio transmission for a detector to identify or block.
Alerion takes a different approach: rather than looking for the signal emitted by the drone, it looks for the drone itself through the signal bouncing back from it.
The system uses 48 transmitting and 48 receiving units, creating 2,304 separate radar paths.
Its radar provides information about a drone’s distance, position, height and speed, giving operators a detailed picture of where a target is and how it is moving.
That high level of detail is intended to help Alerion distinguish drones from birds, vehicles, buildings and vegetation, reducing false alarms while providing accurate information to cameras and weapons or systems used to destroy or disable drones.
Just as important, the system is designed to maintain the drone’s location even when its communications are disrupted or when the method by which it is controlled changes.
Arbe says Alerion can provide continuous tracking from initial detection through the final approach, when low altitude, rapid movement and buildings, trees and other obstacles can make small drones particularly difficult to follow.
The compact system is designed for fixed installations, vehicles and portable platforms, with an emphasis on keeping its size, weight, power requirements and cost manageable.
The technology has undergone field testing for defense applications, and Arbe unveiled Alerion in September 2026 as it expanded from its established automotive-radar business into the rapidly growing anti-drone market.
The significance goes beyond one radar.
As cable-controlled and autonomous drones increasingly challenge traditional electronic defenses, Israel’s new approach reflects a broader shift: when an enemy drone cannot be heard, the defender must learn to see it.
