IAI reveals HYPNOSIS for downing satellite-guided drones in Farnborough

The Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) unveiled HYPNOSIS at the Farnborough International Airshow, a standardized and networked “soft kill” system designed to take down satellite-guided drones by jamming their navigation and timing signals.

Satellite-guided small unmanned aerial vehicle (illustrative image)

Quick Overview

Manufacturer: Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI).
Type: Standardized and networked soft kill system for countering drones.
Method: Jamming navigation and timing signals for drones guided by GNSS systems.
Feature: Neutralization without consuming interceptor missiles or physical destruction.
Reveal: Farnborough 2026 (July 20-24).

Announcement Details

HYPNOSIS provides a non-kinetic response to the rising threat of drones. The system jams the navigation (GNSS) and timing signals of the targeted drone, causing it to lose its positional fix and fail its mission. This method avoids the expenditure of an interceptor missile or costly projectile on each target.

IAI describes the system as standardized and networked, meaning it can be integrated onto different platforms and allow multiple sensors and effects to operate over a shared network. The proliferation of satellite-guided and autonomous drones in Ukraine and the Middle East has driven demand for such solutions.

System Context and Threat

Satellite-guided drones rely on GPS/GNSS to follow their path, and this reliance is also a vulnerability. Jamming the signal or deceiving it with a false signal (spoofing) can cause the drone to lose its location fix. HYPNOSIS aims to combine both methods in a standardized architecture.

Soft kill systems shift the cost balance in favor of the defender in swarm scenarios where many inexpensive drones attack simultaneously.

Why It Matters

Electronic warfare against drones is a field in which the Turkish industry is heavily investing, through the EHTAR anti-drone system, the GOKBEY laser weapon, and the KORKUT system. The emergence of systems like HYPNOSIS underscores that soft kill based on electronic warfare has become a global standard against the threat of inexpensive drones.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is soft kill?

It renders the target incapable of completing its mission through electronic warfare methods (jamming and deception) instead of physically destroying it.