Britain is responding to changes in the geopolitical situation by paying more attention to defense technologies, including the deployment of lasers and other directed energy weapons. Such weapon systems can perform the function of missile systems, but at a significantly lower shot price.
One direction is the Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW). It allows for improving the "economics of war". For example, currently, to damage or destroy a drone that costs several thousand (or several tens of thousands), a missile costing millions of dollars must be used. For instance, destroying a $20k drone with a $1.3-2.5 million Sea Viper missile. In addition, missile supplies are usually quite small, and swarms of cheap drones can easily deplete them.
The new directed energy weapon allows solving these problems. The cost of one shot is about 13 cents. In addition, only electricity is used for the shot. This allows shooting as long as the power supply lasts.
RFDEW is an autonomous energy weapon that can be operated by one person. The system is able to detect, track, and engage multiple threats at a distance of up to a kilometer. Such a weapon system can be installed on various vehicles - from a military ship to the body of a truck. The main targets will be drones or aircraft electronics, which are destroyed by an electromagnetic pulse.
The RFDEW system is planned to be tested by the 7th Air Defense Group alongside the DragonFire laser weapon in September. The results will be used to evaluate the systems and identify possible improvements.
Source: newatlas
Comments (0)
There are no comments for now