Counter-drone protection for vehicles: Mehler Protection shows SCILT close-in system at Enforce Tac 2026

Mehler Protection unveiled a newly developed close-in counter-drone protection system at Enforce Tac 2026. SCILT is designed to protect vehicles attacked from short distances and shallow angles.

Conceived as the last layer of protection for vehicles, SCILT fills the gap between passive vehicle protection and large-area mobile air defence systems. It is to engage small drones at very close range, around 25 metres – including first-person view (FPV) drones, kamikaze drones and guided missiles. Both single drones and multiple simultaneous threats in the immediate danger zone are to be neutralised.

Design and functions

The system is intended for self-protection and can be installed on any platform, from four-wheel-drive vehicles to tanks. It combines sensors, effector modules and operating logic directly on the vehicle. This enables defence against unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) approaching from the front, the side or from low angles. To support the operator's detection and decision-making, the sensor kits can include electro-optical and other sensors for close-range surveillance.

Day and night vision as well as radar images produce a situational picture at a distance of around 100 metres. Because the effector solutions are low-cost, their use can be scaled across different mission profiles.

Further key features include sector-based configuration: depending on formation and movement, individual directions can be switched on or off. There are also three alert levels – detection, approach and trigger alert. In its first version, SCILT deliberately relies on a 'man-in-the-loop' architecture. Speaking at Enforce Tac 2026, however, Mehler Protection also announced that it would expand automation as soon as technology, procedures and approval processes allow.

Ammunition and integration of the counter-drone system

The effector modules fire commercially available standard shotgun-calibre ammunition. The range extends from rubber rounds through hard-core and tungsten carbide fragment rounds to armour-piercing variants. Depending on the scenario, this spectrum allows controlled danger zones and scalable effects; the low-cost effector solutions also support use against single drones and against several simultaneous drones. Effectiveness is assumed to be around 90 per cent.

SCILT is controlled via the vehicle's data bus and can be integrated into existing vehicle architectures. Where such interfaces are lacking, the system works as a stand-alone package with its own chain for close-range surveillance and control. The remote control units can be fitted at several points in the vehicle.

Of particular note is the decentralised design of all modules: if individual elements are damaged, the system remains operational.

Available from summer 2026

Mehler Protection has been working on SCILT for around one and a half years. In 48 test campaigns, the company examined external and terminal ballistics, temperature behaviour, functioning reliability and fragment density, among other things, to determine the optimum effective engagement range.

From summer 2026, the first version is to be available as an effector package including sensor packages and operator units. It can be integrated into different vehicle configurations.