Wednesday, June 26, 2019

This U.S. Air Force Weapon Can Take Out Swarms Of Drones



The Verge: The US Air Force has a new weapon called THOR that can take out swarms of drones

Ding, the drone is done

In recent years, small drones have made their way onto battlefields where they’ve been used to surveil US forces or drop bombs on them, prompting the US military to develop new ways to take them down. This week, the US Air Force unveiled a new tool that can be stationed at bases around the world: a high-powered microwave system called Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder (THOR), which is designed to protect bases against swarms of drones.

The Air Force Research Laboratory at the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, developed the system, which uses short bursts of high-powered microwaves to disable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to local TV station KRQE, the system was developed quickly (18 months) for about $15 million. It runs off of a generator and is stored in a shipping container, meaning it can be transported almost anywhere and set up within a couple of hours

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This weapon appears to be ideal for protecting bases. But troops on the ground will need something more mobile when they are involved in operations.

Hat tip Fred for this link.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah the kalashnikov kamikaze drone will likely be harder to bring down. .especially in the battlefield as you pointed out.

Bob Huntley said...

...