Russia’s United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC), a holding within the State Corporation Rostec, has created a weapon capable of destroying dozens of tiny UAVs, Leonid Khozin, Head of UIMC’s press service, told Sputnik.

Khozin said that instead of obliterating a mini-drone with the help of a missile or a shell, the new weapon damages the mini-drone’s onboard radio electronic systems, turning the UAV into a "useless piece of dead iron and plastic.”

“These low-cost technologies, which have already been tested successfully, can effectively fight the mini-drones. There is no need to spend money on bullets, shells or missiles, and a 'shot' of such a weapon costs, in fact, nothing,” Khozin added.

Small arms and air defense systems are powerless when fighting mini-drones, he added, referring to the new technologies, which he said affects the nature of war and fighting tactics significantly onboard.

Meanwhile, a prototype of a hand-launched spy drone weighing roughly 21 ounces has been built at an engineering center in Samara, Russia, a defense industry source told RIA Novosti.

“The Cluster Engineering Center in the Samara Region has developed a prototype of a special reconnaissance device based off a new small UAV, Osa, with vertical takeoff and landing. It can be launched from the hand or a stationary ground,” the source said.

The unmanned aerial vehicle is capable of performing surveillance missions in a tactical radius in the open space, in cities and inside buildings.

The drone can carry a payload of up to 5.2 ounces, stay airborne for 15 minutes on a single charge, and stream real-time footage from its camera to a control terminal at the distance of up to 4,000 feet.