Drones have been such a nuisance to the Taliban that they have published instructions to their members on how to avoid being detected.
The document which was left behind by Islamists who had to evacuate a hideout contained many piratical tips on how to either avoid being seen from the air or how to deceive the spying eyes behind the drones.
The tips use camouflage and deception as the primary means of survival and obviously they have proven helpful but drones are still the most effective means of killing off the top leadership of al-Qaeda and the Taliban
The success of some of the tips will depend on the circumstances and the model of drones used. When looking down from the air an imagery sensor would interpret a mat stretched over the top of a car (which is one tactic) as one lying on the ground which would effectively hide the vehicle from view.
New models of drones, such as the Harfung used by the French or the MQ-9 “Reaper,” sometimes have infrared sensors that can pick up the heat signature of a car whose engine has just been shut off, but even an infrared sensor would have trouble detecting a car left under a mat tent overnight because there would be no heat there to detect. So another tip is to avoid using anything that will leave a heat signature.
