At IFA 2024, DJI launched a new very small drone known as the DJI Neo. Designed to be light and simple, the drone is small enough to rest in your palm and doesn’t require a controller.

"The life of impunity of small, very simple drones over the battlefield is a snapshot in time," Schill said. "Right now it's being exploited, that's clear, and we have to protect ourselves.

Doing this, the scientists look at how birds or insects swarm "using very simple behaviors ... Delft students called Emergent, has some 40 small drones involved in its research.