U.K. Developing Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon to Take Down Drone Swarms

The U.K.'s defence ministry is working on a new weapon utilizing radio waves to neutralize enemy electronics and combat multiple drones simultaneously.

This initiative is part of the government's efforts to bolster the nation's defence industry, following the Prime Minister's recent commitment to raise the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.

An example of Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) technology, the system boasts the capability to detect, track, and engage various threats across land, air, and sea domains. Operating within a range of up to 1 kilometer, with ongoing enhancements to extend its reach, the system employs radio waves to disrupt or disable critical electronic components of adversary vehicles, rendering them immobile or causing them to plummet from the sky.

With each shot costing 10p, the RFDEW beam emerges as a cost-effective alternative to conventional missile-based air defence systems, neutralizing perilous drone swarms instantaneously. Moreover, its automation facilitates operation by a single individual, thereby presenting an efficient solution for safeguarding critical assets and installations.

The versatility of RFDEW technology enables its deployment across various military platforms, leveraging a mobile power source to generate pulses of Radio Frequency energy. This energy is directed into a focused beam capable of delivering sequenced shots at individual targets or broadened to engage multiple threats concurrently within its scope.

Collaboratively developed by a joint team comprising the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), in conjunction with U.K. industry partners under Project Hersa, the RFDEW initiative is now poised to undergo rigorous field testing alongside British soldiers throughout the upcoming summer months.