US Air Force Successfully Shoots Down Drone Swarm With A THOR Microwave Weapon

The US Air Force’s THOR microwave weapon. Photo: Adrian Lucero/US Air Force 

Defense Post: US Air Force Shoots Down Drone Swarm With THOR Microwave Weapon 

The US Air Force’s Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) microwave weapon has neutralized a swarm of drones in a recent trial. 

Conducted at the Chestnut Test Site in New Mexico, the activity simulated a real-world swarm attack on military assets. 

THOR engaged the targets and knocked them out of the sky using its non-kinetic, speed-of-light microwave pulses. 

According to THOR program manager Adrian Lucero, the weapon proved effective in neutralizing multiple targets even though it had never before been tested against the types of drones used in the trial. 

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 US Air Force Successfully Shoots Down Drone Swarm With A THOR Microwave Weapon  

THOR Microwave Anti-Drone System Downs Swarms In Test -- Warzone/The Drive  

THOR Hammers Drone Swarm with High-Power Microwaves -- Air & Space Forces Magazine  

The Air Force’s new directed energy weapon is ready to blast drone swarms out of the sky -- Task & Purpose  

USAF tests anti-drone swarm energy weapon -- Flight Global  

US Fires Microwave Weapon To Thwart UAV Menace; ‘THOR’s Hammer’ Hammers Swarm Of Drones In New Test -- EurAsian Times

Here is A Safe Anti-Drone Gun

In The Know: This machine is a safe countermeasure to drones

The DroneGun Tactical by Australian-based company DroneSheild is like something out of a video game. The rifle-shaped, high-powered antenna “blasts” drones out of the sky with frequency waves.

DroneSheild designed the technology to thwart unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with explosives or weapons strapped to them. It works by blocking video transmission and GPS information, making it nearly impossible for its pilot to regain control.

“Most modern drones are equipped with a protocol that they come back to their operator when the radio frequency signal is jammed and land when radio frequency and GPS are both jammed,” company spokesman Oleg Vornik told the Daily Mail.

“The jammer doesn’t control the drone, it’s an automatic response from the drones themselves.”

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WNU Editor: Weird looking. But it appears to be effective.

U.S. Army Is Expanding Its Counter-Drone Capability With A New Warhead And Radar

(Raytheon)

FOX News/Warrior Maven: Army flying explosive gets new warhead and radar to destroy drones

The Army is working with industry partners to upgrade and expand its counter-drone fight by helping to bring new advanced technology to U.S. allied countries across the globe facing an increasingly complex threat. The effort includes industry moves to offer emerging counter-drone systems for international sales, the addition of advanced interceptors and emerging uses of AI -- all as part of a cutting-edge effort to destroy attacking drones.

Armored vehicle convoys maneuvering through mountainous terrain as part of a massive, coordinated combined arms ground attack, could easily be vulnerable to fast-appearing, close-in enemy drone attacks. Forward Operating Bases, often fighting without immediate air support, are also potentially susceptible to fast-approaching drone swarms. Dismounted, forward-moving infantry operating in small groups without armored vehicles or close-air support could be especially at risk of coordinated close-in, small drone attacks.

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WNU Editor: Drone swarms will be used in future conflicts and wars. Having the means to stop them will also be part of that future.

Israeli Firm Rafael Successfully Tests Anti-Drone Laser-Defense System

Daily Mail: Star Wars-like laser beam blasts drones out of the sky in footage demonstrating Israel's new defence system

* The Drone Dome C-UAS system can detect and shoot down unmanned aircraft
* Video published by manufacturers Rafael shows drones being downed by lasers
* The Israeli manufacturers hailed the system a '100 per cent success' after tests

This footage shows an Israeli drone defense system shooting a series of moving targets out of the sky with a Star Wars-like laser beam.

Manufacturers of the Drone Dome C-UAS hailed the system a '100 per cent success' after it brought down drones that were zig-zagging sharply during tests.

The so-called Counter Unmanned Aircraft System can detect hostile drones from more than two miles away and fire a destructive laser beam 'within seconds'.

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More News On Israeli Firm Rafael Successfully Testing An Anti-Drone Laser-Defense System

Israeli laser defense system successfully intercepts multiple drone targets -- Times of Israel
RAFAEL's Drone Dome intercepts multiple maneuvering targets with LASER technology -- Arutz Sheva
Watch Israel’s wild new laser weapon shoot drones out of sky -- NYPost
A new anti-drone system shows promising results -- Asia Times
‘Drone dome’: Israel unveils LASER weapon blasting UAVs out of the sky (VIDEO) -- RT

There Are A Minimum Of 537 Anti-Drone Systems On The Market

VICE: Report on 537 Anti-Drone Systems Shows How Wild the Market Has Become

From jamming rifles to ground installations that fire nets, a new report lays out the expansive Wild West of anti-drone tech.

Drones are everywhere. Military drones buzz war zones dropping missiles; surveillance drones hover above neighborhoods, looking for anything out of place; even now, commercial drones hide in holiday wrapping, waiting for excited enthusiasts to fly them in a park.

As the market for drones has grown, so too has the market for tools to take them down. There’s jamming rifles, spoofing software, and hundreds of other solutions for downing a drone. But what to buy the budding enthusiast?

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WNU Editor: I doubt that the "anti-drone" market can support this many companies/products.

U.S. Air Force Is Deploying Its First Drone-Killing Microwave Weapon

Popular Mechanics: The Air Force Is Deploying Its First Drone-Killing Microwave Weapon

The U.S. Air Force is sending PHASER overseas—the first direct energy weapon ever fielded and a huge milestone for the controversial weapon system.

Drone attacks, including the recent swarm strike in Saudi Arabia, are increasing, and so is the Pentagon's interest in killing them.

Yesterday afternoon, the Pentagon notified Congress of its purchase of a microwave weapon system designed to knock down swarms of enemy drones with pulses of energy. The purchase comes with an intent to deploy the PHASER system overseas for a year-long assessment, making it the first directed energy defense weapon to ever be fielded.

The U.S. Air Force spent $16.28 million for one prototype PHASER high power microwave system for a “field assessment for purposes of experimentation” in an unspecified location outside the U.S. The test is “expected to be completed by Dec. 20, 2020,” making the overseas deployment “against real-world or simulated hostile vignettes” imminent.

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WNU Editor: This is the first time that this direct energy weapon is being fielded.

Israeli Firm Boasts That Its Tech Can Take Over A Hostile Drone

A drone used in Syria last year.Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency/AFP

Haaretz: New Tech Lets Israel Take Over Hostile Drones, Reuse Them Against Enemy

Over the weekend, the Israeli army said it acted in the Damascus area to foil a drone strike on northern Israel by an Iranian force

Anti-drone technology recently developed in Israel can seize control of enemy drones and land them anywhere. Taking control of the drones without causing them damage makes it possible to reuse them and extract any data that the drone collected prior to its interception.

"The system that we developed can detect hostile drones at a range of up to three and a half kilometers [about 2 miles] and take control of about 200 drones at the same time," Asaf Lebovitz, the product manager of Skylock, one of the Israeli companies that have developed the technology, told Haaretz.

Israel said it carried out an attack in Syria on Saturday to thwart a drone attack on northern Israel by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that two members of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia group and one Iranian were killed in the attack. The Israeli army said the Quds Force had been planning to launch a number of drones.

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This Is The New U.S. Electronic Warfare Weapon That Was Used To 'Shoot Down' An Alleged Iranian Drone

The drone-jamming and controlling system picture here is similar to the kind seen mounted on the deck of the USS Boxer as it transited the Strait of Hormuz (Dalton S. Swanbeck / Marine Corps)

C4ISRNet: Marine jamming jeep sends unknown drone to the deep

Drone, the catch-all term for uncrewed flying vehicle, descends from a far more specific bit of jargon, once used exclusively to refer to aerial targets. Few aircraft are built for the express purpose of being destroyed, but targets are, and that more casual attitude towards the destruction of aerial robots has expanded to include the whole category of modern uncrewed apparatus. All of this is to say: through some means, forces on board a U.S. Navy vessel had an interaction with a drone, and likely sent it into the sea.

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Update: The New US Electronic Warfare Weapon Used in the Alleged Takedown of Iran's Drone-Report (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction. After yesterday's downing of an Iranian drone, those who operate drones are going to think twice before approaching a U.S. warship.

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

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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.

Anti-Drone Buggies Aboard The USS Kearsarge

Warzone/The Drive: USS Kearsarge Transits The Suez Canal With Anti-Drone Buggies Keeping Watch On Deck

The USMC is putting its new drone defense capabilities to work in creative ways, like protecting a multi-billion dollar capital ship.

The threat of small commercially available drones looms large over the U.S. military. After years of dragging its feet, the Battle of Mosul finally awoke the Pentagon as to just how complex and vexing the threat from these systems is. Now, ever more elaborate anti-drone defense concepts are hitting the field under rushed procurement concepts. One of those is the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS), a highly mobile anti-drone solution that rides on a pair of Polaris MRZR buggies, and now the Corps is getting creative about how they put this capability to use.

A great example of this is the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge's recent transit through the Suez Canal, in which LMADIS sat strapped to its deck, providing a much-needed albeit asymmetric defense for the multi-billion dollar technology packed warship.

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WNU Editor: Anti-drone defenses have definitely become a priority for the Pentagon.

This New Gun Can Knock Drones Out Of The Sky

PJ Media: Watch How a New Gun Knocks Drones Out of the Sky

The company behind development of a gun to take down drones that are hostile, suspicious or crossing into restricted airspace released test footage today of a portable, battery-powered rifle taking down an unmanned craft.

DroneGun Tactical is made by Australia-based DroneShield Ltd., which also has a Northern Virginia office. The jamming device "allows for a controlled management of drone payload such as explosives, with no damage to common drones models or surrounding environment due to the drones generally responding via a vertical controlled landing on the spot, or returning back to the starting point," which aids authorities in tracking the drone operator, the company said.

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WNU Editor: Not impressed with the video. Drones move fast and they are hard to spot when they are high in the air.

Antidrone Lasers And Microwave Weapons Will Be A Multi-Billion Market By 2023

Next Big Future: High Energy lasers and microwave anti-drone weapons will be a multi-billion market by 2023

Antidrone lasers and microwave weapons will be a several billion dollar market over the next five years.

The mini-drone threat is a high priority for the Pentagon, along with anti-aircraft defenses in general. Daesh has used commercial drones to drop hand grenades. Hezbollah has used similar setups to strike Daesh. The Iraqi police and military have used commercial drones for similar purposes. And the Russians have used drones large and small to target Ukrainian troops for devastating artillery strikes.

It’s getting so anyone can buy a drone for $1,000 or less, fiddle with it a bit and turn it into a reconnaissance and strike platform. It can’t drop 1,000 pound bombs but it can track you, kill a few people and keep on going. A swarm of such drones was recently used to attack Russia’s largest base in Syria.

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WNU Editor:  They will need to miniaturize these weapons.

Helicopter Door Gunner Shoots Down Drone in Mid-Air

We Are The Mighty: Watch this helicopter door gunner shoot down a drone

Drones have become a security concern for the United States military. You might wonder why that is the case when the military operates a number of advanced drones like the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Well, American troops had close calls with ISIS drones, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Dealing with drones has become a way for a lot of people to come up with ideas, like jammers that can send the drone running home, lasers that can burn the drones in mid-air, or ammo that can hunt drones. But there is another way to handle a drone that is just as permanent, and which is currently available to the troops on the front lines.

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WNU Editor: This is something that you do not see everyday.

The Pentagon Is Building Up Its Anti-Drone Arsenal

A member of the Iraqi federal police carries a destroyed drone belonging to ISIS militants, in Mosul, March 19, 2017.REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Business Insider: The Pentagon is getting better at stopping enemy drones — and testing its own for delivering gear to the battlefield

The US military and its partners are expanding their use of drones, turning to them for logistical purposes like resupply while expanding their abilities to defend against enemy drones.

The latest piece of drone-related equipment is a 5-pound radar-gun-like device used to jam drones in remote areas or during patrols.

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WNU Editor: Here is some more info on the "Drone Buster" .... The Army is adding the 'Dronebuster' to its set of anti-drone tools (Army Times)

The U.S. Air Force Wants These Special Drone-Snagging Shotgun Shells

The Drive: U.S. Air Force Buying Special Drone-Snagging Shotgun Shells

SkyNet rounds are just one tool the Pentagon is looking at to counter the threat of small and readily available remote-control aircraft.

U.S. Air Force security forces, as well as other military personnel and federal law enforcement agencies, may soon be getting a new tool to take down small commercial drones: shotgun shells with a net. The special cartridge is just one system the Pentagon has been looking at to manage the growing threat from small and readily available quad-and hex-copter-type unmanned aircraft.

On Jan. 31, 2017, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) announced plans to buy and evaluate 600 12 gauge SkyNet Mi-5 shells from AMTEC Less Lethal Systems (ALS). If the Air Force was happy with the tests’ results, the service would have the option of buying another 6,400 rounds.

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Iran Has Deployed A New Counter-Drone Weapon

Washington Times: Iran deploys jamming device to counter drones

Iran has deployed a new counter-drone weapon — a rifle-shaped jamming device that the regime says can electronically separate a remotely piloted aircraft from its command pilot and even reprogram it to turn on its owner.

The development could be significant for the future of drone warfare. Unmanned aerial vehicles are taking on larger roles in anti-U.S. planning by Iran and other belligerents. The U.S. military routinely launches spy drones over the Persian Gulf as well as over Iraq and Syria.

Iran has tested and deployed suicide drones that it says can be launched against U.S. ships, which are targets of harassment by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy.

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WNU Editor: If true .... this development could be significant for the future of drone warfare.

U.S. Air Force Buy Mysterious Israeli 'Drone Killer' To Stop ISIS Drones

The deal is with ELTA North America, a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli Aerospace Industries which does produce a 'drone buster' called Drone Shield, pictured here. It is believed the new system mixes scanning systems with a system to disable drones mid flight, or cause them to return to their base, allowing them to be tracked.

Defense One: Air Force Buys Mysterious Israeli Weapon to Kill ISIS Drones

What is this secret weapon? Pentagon officials aren’t saying, but here are some clues.

The U.S. Air Force awarded a mysterious contract to an Israeli firm for equipment to counter small drones like the ones used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

But service officials will not disclose the type of system and whether it uses electronic jamming, conventional missiles, a combination of both, or some other method to down enemy drones.

Here’s what we know: The Air Force awarded ELTA North America Inc. — a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli Aerospace Industries — a $15.6 million contract for “counter-unmanned aerial systems.” The contract announcement specifically references “21 Man Portable Aerial Defense System kits,” which will be delivered by July 28.

Man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, are shoulder-fired missiles traditionally used to shoot down aircraft. So was that what was purchased? Not so fast.

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Update: Air Force buys mysterious $15m Israeli 'drone killer' kits to fight DIY ISIS UAVs -- Daily Mail

WNU Editor: No details on how this system works, but if I was to hazard a guess .... it sounds like a sophisticated jamming device that targets drones

The Next Big Development In Drones Will Be The Deployment Of 'Anti-Drone' Devices

Defense Systems: Mosul battle fuels anti-drone development

Drones are emerging as one of the asymmetrical threats in the battle for Mosul. A series of Islamic State drone attacks on Iraqi forces fighting to retake the northern Iraqi city have resulted in casualties and a heightened state of alert as ISIS fighters supplement deadly car-bomb attacks with harassing drone strikes using off-the-shelf quad-copters rigged to drop munitions.

Those attacks by short-range drones have prompted the U.S. military to step up development of countermeasures along with technical assessments of directed energy technologies, official said.

"We've assisted in the targeting of ISIL's drones, bringing down almost a dozen," Army Col. Brett Sylvia, a U.S. commander in Baghdad, acknowledged in a Jan. 13 briefing with reporters.

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WNU Editor: The Iraqis want to have want the U.S. already has .... Iraq wants drone killer gun from US to fight weaponized ISIS drones (SOFREP).