If it's being controlled with a controller, yes, although at 2.4 Ghz, they frequency-hop, and jamming the entire spectrum close to loads of aircraft (even if grounded) and a terminal with wifi etc is likely to cause some collateral disruption. Gatwick's also surrounded by loads of businesses (although at night they'd mostly be closed).

However, if it's not a commercial one or has been modified, it could be using waypoints so jamming the communications wouldn't do anything useful in that case.

Jamming GPS is more problematic, I'm not sure how localised that could be, if it can't be it's unlikely they can do this as so much stuff relies on it these days (even aircraft, although DME/VOR waypoints are still used).

Aircraft do not rely on GPS precisely because it’s so easy to jam. It’s only a convenience.

This is increasingly untrue. RNAV/PNAV approaches are increasingly being flown - which are exclusively satellite-based navigation, and, at smaller airports, “traditional” approaches based on ground instrumentation are being phased out due to cost and inflexibility... potentially leaving pilots stranded in bad weather conditions if GPS fails.

They're definitely less safe without it though.

Also, I don't know about the UK's laws, but any sort of radiofrequency jamming is illegal in the US except in extremely extenuating circumstances (like war) that I don't think a roving drone would fall under.

Wouldn't a directional antenna aimed at it minimize such collateral interference?

Yes.

There are drones with 4G comms. Shutting off the entire local phone network may be less acceptable.

I recon for ~$300 in parts your "typical hardware hacker" could build a rig that would focus 600W of microwave energy into a parabolic dish with reasonably tight beam. That shouldn't really affect anything but the drone.

If I was building a drone to do sabotage, I'd build a comms link around modulated NIR lasers targeted with mirrors rotated by microsteppers.

Did you see the article about optical links for micro sats?

http://news.mit.edu/2018/laser-pointing-system-satellites-tr...

I wonder if you could communicate with a drone from orbit (obviously in clear conditions).

*reckon

I thought you were saying you do reconnaissance for $300 before finishing the sentence.

Can't you just jam it with a very directional antenna?

You need to find where it is first and be able to track it.

Finding it doesn't seem hard, it really seemed to try to get as much attention as possible.

And without being able to command it or GPS it shouldn't be hard to track it either.

In theory it could be following waypoints (no command frequency) and using ultrasonic "sonar" to avoid things like trees at low level. That's pretty difficult to track, especially if you're on the ground in an area with a lot of trees.

Sure, but extremely unlikely.

That's why radar was invented.