Russian mechanics install steel cable spinners as new anti-drone defense for vehicles

Russian troops are experimenting with a contraption that spins steel cables to protect vehicles from small loitering munitions.

The device was seen on the “War Correspondents” program of the Russian state TV channel Smotrim, which reported on Sunday that the gadget was built by mechanics from the 70th Motor Rifle Regiment in Zaporizhzhia.

Fitted to an uncrewed ground vehicle called a Courier, the defensive tool resembles a large weed whacker that’s raised to spin vertically.

They’re essentially discs with roughly nine or 10 thin cables that whip aside incoming objects. Each disc, turned via a shaft, sticks out from one of the Courier’s four sides.

The Courier, a tracked, 550-pound Russian ground droneis mounted with what appears to be a motor that can spin all four shafts simultaneously.

“When an FPV drone tries to strike, the cables either knock it down or deflect it to the side,” said a man identified by state media as a squad leader named “Struk.” He described the spinner as a test device.

The Courier is a multi-purpose drone, meaning that it can potentially be used to transport cargo, retrieve the dead or wounded, or be fitted with weapons for assault missions.

Uncrewed ground vehicles have risen quickly as a new front of the war’s technology race, with Russian and Ukrainian forces both hoping to scale up production of ground drones that can replace human soldiers for dangerous frontline tasks.

Little is known about the effectiveness of the new spinning device, but it’s another example of how both sides of the war continue to innovate. In the conflict’s early days, Russian troops fitted their battle tanks and armored vehicles with metal cages, nets, and spikes to increase survivability against small drone attacks.

The tactic was initially mocked, but has since spread even to militaries outside Ukraine and Russia.

Still, the Courier is designed to carry a significant payload, so it has space for the new weed whacker — a luxury that battle tanks, armored vehicles, and weaponized drones don’t enjoy.

Ukrainian bloggers reported in 2023 on a patent with a similar concept, though this idea involved a single, spinning fan mounted on the top of a battle tank to protect against munitions.

In May 2025, they posted images of another device that would protect vehicles in a similar fashion, with spinning blades on each side.

A cited patent description said the system was designed with the belief that a drone operator would have difficulty seeing the spinning blades.