No sooner had the talk about testing a new British laser weapon subsided, than the government of this country issued another press release in which it talked about working on another installation against drones. Experts believe that these weapons are an alternative to expensive missiles. The cost of a shot from it will be a little more than 10 cents.
Modern anti-aircraft missiles are effective against a number of aerial targets, but there are several problems associated with them. Missile systems must be recharged after the consumption of a set of ammunition, which takes time, especially precious in war conditions. Rockets are very expensive: the price of one piece sometimes reaches several million dollars. Expensive missiles often have to be spent on shooting down small and cheap kamikaze drones, the cost of which usually does not exceed several tens of thousands of dollars, which is economically unprofitable.
Recently, the military departments of some countries have been developing an alternative to such ammunition — Directed-energy weapon (DEW). This weapon is based on completely new physical principles: it destroys targets through direct energy transfer — without the use of conductors, kinetic striking elements. DEW has a number of advantages: the "projectile" from such an installation flies at or close to the speed of light (depending on the type of DEW), that is, much faster than a rocket.
In addition, this kind of weapon can hit multiple targets with minimal pauses. Since DEW uses energy rather than rockets, it can potentially "fire" an infinite number of times as long as energy is conserved.
One of the few countries that is trying to equip its army with DEW is the United Kingdom. In March 2024, the kingdom's military department has already tested a 50 kilowatt DragonFire laser weapon designed to combat drones.
The system has the accuracy to hit a one pound sterling coin from a kilometer away. According to the Ministry of Defense, in 10 seconds of operation, DragonFire consumes the same amount of energy as a conventional household heater for an hour. As for the cost of one "shot", it is less than 10 pounds (almost 13 US dollars).
Now the British government has talked about working on another "drone killer" — The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon), a "shot" from which will cost much cheaper than from DragonFire, at only 13 cents.
This type of directed energy weapon uses radio waves that can disable enemy drones, damaging their critical electronic components. The system can use a mobile power source to create radio frequency pulses that "converge" into a single "combat" beam.
British radio frequency energy weapons can be used on land, in the air and at sea, that is, they can be installed on almost any platform: from a warship to the body of a truck
Image Source: MoD Crown Copyright, PA Media
According to the press release, the British radio frequency energy weapon will be able to be controlled by one person, it will detect, track and hit targets at a distance of up to a kilometer (in the future, this distance is planned to be increased). It can be used on land, in the air and at sea, that is, it can be installed on almost any platform: from a warship to the body of a truck.
"This is a revolutionary system that will give a decisive advantage to the armed forces on the battlefield, as well as help save lives and prevent deadly threats," explained Paul Hollinshead, head of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, a defense enterprise involved in the development of weapons.
The first tests of the new weapon will be held in the summer with the participation of British soldiers. The radio frequency installation should replace traditional air defense systems and work even more efficiently than lasers.
