NTT Drone Triggers, Guides Lightning

   Tokyo, May 23 (Jiji Press)--Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. has successfully triggered and guided lightning in an experiment using a drone, paving the way for better protecting key social infrastructure, such as communications facilities, and people from the destructive natural phenomenon.
   In the test project conducted in Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, between December last year and January, the telecommunication firm's research team flew a drone equipped with a lightning protection cage and a conductive wire to an altitude of 300 meters when the ground-level electric field strength increased as a thunder cloud approached.
   The team then turned on a switch to electrically connect the drone to the ground. As a result, the electric field strength around the unmanned aircraft changed rapidly, triggering a lightning strike. Despite the direct strike, the drone suffered no damage or malfunction, as the huge power current flowed to the ground through the wire.
   "This marks the first successful case in the world of triggering lightning using a drone," NTT added.
   In Japan, buildings taller than 20 meters are legally required to have lightning rods. But a rod cannot protect a large area from lightning strikes or cannot be installed easily at an outdoor event venue.

(2025/05/23-18:26)