Background & Pain Points
A major oil refinery in the Middle East had a critical requirement: protect its volatile storage tank farms against unauthorized drones. With thousands of barrels of crude oil and gas on site, even a single rogue drone carrying a small incendiary payload could trigger a catastrophic explosion.
The refinery’s security integrator had already deployed a sophisticated perimeter system consisting of 3D radars, PTZ cameras, and a central command platform. However, their system lacked an active jamming capability. They couldn’t find a commercially available complete jammer that met their strict requirements: it had to withstand 55°C ambient heat, integrate via simple dry-contact and IP protocols into their existing Siemens command platform, and precisely jam only the drone’s C2 and navigation frequencies without interfering with the plant’s critical wireless instrumentation.
They didn’t need another standalone box. They needed a powerful, reliable, OEM-grade RF jamming module they could embed into their own enclosures and control with their own software.
Challenges & Requirements
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Pure Integration Play: The module had to be a “black box” component—DC powered, controlled via RS-485 and LAN, with a simple ARM/DISARM command set.
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Frequency Precision: 100% duty cycle jamming on 433 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.2 GHz, 1.5 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and GNSS L1/L2 bands, with less than 1% frequency drift under high heat. No interference to the plant’s 5.8 GHz licensed instrumentation links.
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Extreme Environment: The module’s core electronics had to survive inside a sealed, non-air-conditioned junction box on a pipe rack, where temperatures swing from -10°C at night to +60°C by noon.
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Full Remote Control: The integrator needed full control over which frequency bands were active, with real-time VSWR health monitoring of each antenna channel to alert if an antenna was damaged.
Our Solution: The ProDefender-800 OEM Drone Jamming Module
After reviewing the integrator’s technical specification, we supplied our ProDefender-800 OEM Module, a compact, conduction-cooled, multi-band RF jamming engine designed specifically for system integrators.
Module Specifications at a Glance:
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Total RF Output: 100W (average) / 400W (peak) across 7 bands
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Form Factor: 320mm x 220mm x 85mm sealed aluminum chassis with mounting flanges
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Interfaces: DC 24V-48V input, RS-485, Ethernet (TCP/IP), 7x SMA antenna ports, 2x dry-contact outputs for fault/status
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Cooling: Passive conduction to the customer’s heatsink plate – no fans, no vents
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Protection: IP66 when properly gasketed in the host enclosure
Integration into the Refinery System:
The integrator housed one ProDefender-800 drone jamming module inside each of their 4 custom-built explosion-proof junction boxes, mounted on pipe racks overlooking the tank farm. Each module was connected to 7 external high-gain directional panel antennas, creating a precisely shaped jamming sector.
The integration workflow was straightforward:
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Mechanical Integration: Our module’s four mounting flanges were bolted directly to a massive heatsink plate on the back wall of the junction box, ensuring heat transfer to the external environment.
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Electrical Interface: DC power was drawn from the site’s 48V backup system. The RS-485 bus connected to a local industrial PLC.
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Software Control Integration: We provided the integrator with a simple ASCII command protocol document. Their software engineers integrated module control into their existing system within 3 days. A single SCADA screen now shows the jammer status (ARMED/STANDBY/FAULT), active bands, and VSWR readings for each antenna channel.
Operational Logic:
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When the existing radar system classifies a target as an unauthorized drone, it sends an ARM command via TCP/IP to our module.
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The module instantaneously (＜500ns PLL lock time) activates the pre-selected jamming bands.
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The drone loses its control link and GNSS fix, executing a failsafe return-to-home.
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The SCADA logs the event with timestamp and band activation data for compliance auditing.
Operational Results & Data
The integrated system went live in August. During a 60-day verification period, the refinery recorded the following:
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7 confirmed drone intrusion attempts were neutralized automatically.
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100% mission-capable rate for the jamming modules. No RF amplifier failures or VSWR alarms triggered by heat.
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Zero interference with the plant’s critical wireless sensor networks, validated by spectrum analysis pre- and post-installation.
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The integrator successfully deployed the full 4-module system within 2 weeks, a timeline they acknowledged would have been impossible if they had to design the RF power chain themselves.
The head of the integrator’s engineering team commented: “The ProDefender-800 module gave us exactly what we needed: a true industrial-grade RF engine. It allowed us to deliver a fully customized solution to the refinery while keeping our engineering overhead minimal.”
Value & Future Readiness
By choosing our OEM drone jammer module, the integrator avoided the high cost and risk of RF design. They gained a proven, certified jamming core that turned their existing passive detection system into a fully active, layered defense shield. For us, the module’s field performance in one of the world’s harshest environments serves as a strong reference for any complex integration project.
