The UK just took down a swarm of drones with a 13-cent-a-shot energy weapon
This would be a first for the cutting-edge weaponry in the UK.
The RF-DEW disrupts drones with high-frequency radio waves and costs 13 cents a shot.
The British Army says it shot down a drone swarm using a radiowave-based directed energy weapon, in a first for the technology in the UK.
At an undisclosed weapons range in Wales, the Radiofrequency Directed Energy Weapon, or RF-DEW, tracked and took down the swarm during the trial, and worked with "near-instant effect," the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
RF-DEW has been shown in previous trials to be effective from over 1,000 yards.
But — as the largest such trial in the UK to date — this was the first time it took down a whole swarm of drones.
RF-DEW is being developed by a consortium led by French manufacturer Thales, which dubbed the tech "RapidDestroyer" during trials.
Thales also collaborated with both the French and British defense ministries on the MMCM naval mine countermeasures system that is being rolled out this year.
RF-DEW uses high-frequency radio waves to disrupt or damage electronic components inside drones, in what Thales described as a "hard-kill" mechanism. This is in contrast to existing systems that jam, or confuse drones, Thales said.
The technology is considered to be a low-cost partner to larger-scale, missile-based air defense systems, and costs just 13 cents a shot, according to the MOD.
The British Army conducted the trials against 100 small quadcopter drones, of two types: The Boresight Raider, a drone with swarming capabilities designed specifically for use in counter-drone tech trials, and the Parrot Anafi, a commercial off-the-shelf drone camera.
Sgt Mayers, the British officer who brought down the drones, said that the system was "quick to learn and easy to use."
"With improvements on range and power, which could come with further development, this would be a great asset to Layered Air Defence," Mayers added.
This comes against a backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has seen major advancements in the use of drones in combat.
Drone swarms — where groups of drones act autonomously or semi-autonomously and in concert with each other — are still in their infancy, with Ukrainian companies trialing swarms designed to resist Russian electronic warfare.
The RF-DEW trial is part of a push to increase new technologies in British defense capabilities. There are currently no plans to deploy the system in Ukraine, the MOD said.
In early April, the UK government announced a £400 million, or $530 million, fund for defense innovation, with 10% of the MOD's equipment budget to be ringfenced for new tech.
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