ABSTRACT With the rapid proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the military, logistics and public safety sectors, the threat of illegal intrusion, information theft, and security breaches has increased. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent developments in counter‐unmanned aerial vehicle (counter‐UAV) systems, focussing on detection and defence technologies. At the detection level, we examine multimodal sensing technologies, including radar, infrared, optical, acoustic and RF systems, and discuss their advantages and limitations. At the defence level, we explore active countermeasures such as electronic jamming, net capture, lasers, directed energy and swarm cooperative interception. A comparative analysis of these methods is provided, highlighting their effectiveness in different operational scenarios. Furthermore, the paper discusses the development trends of multi‐source information fusion, intelligent decision‐making and autonomous defence technologies. As counter‐UAV systems evolve, intelligent, collaborative and distributed fusion approaches are expected to play a pivotal role in enhancing the overall system performance. This paper aims to offer a systematic reference for researchers and practitioners involved in the design and implementation of low‐altitude security systems.
Xing et al. (2026) studied this question.