A cutting-edge new weapon which uses radio waves to blast drones out of the sky is under development for the UK’s armed forces.
The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) beams radio waves to disrupt or damage the critical electronic components of vehicles and drones used by enemy combatants, which can cause them to stop in their tracks or fall out of the sky.
It can be used across land, air and sea and has a range of up to 1km, which could be extended in the future.
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With an estimated cost of 10p per radio wave shot, the technology is also being billed as a cost-effective alternative to traditional missiles, and could be used to take down dangerous drone swarms.
The technology can be mounted on to a variety of military vehicles, and uses a mobile power source to produce pulses of a radio frequency energy in a beam that can fire sequenced shots at a single target or be broadened to hit a series of targets.
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“The war in Ukraine has shown us the importance of deploying uncrewed systems, but we must be able to defend against them too. As we ramp up our defence spending in the coming years, our Defence Drone Strategy will ensure we are at the forefront of this warfighting evolution.”
The Defence Blog says it’s part of Project EALING “Similar in concept to the Epirus LEONIDAS system developed for the US Army”.
aBundleOfFerrets@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
10p per shot??? How much energy are they dumping into this thing? Is the antenna a consumable??
scholar@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Enough to make sure that whatever you’re zapping stays zapped. Similarly with the DragonFire laser they showed off recently that costs £10 per shot, the cost effectiveness makes these tools much more viable against cheap drone swarms than a £1000,000 missile