The British Armed Forces have successfully tested a revolutionary Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) capable of neutralizing drone swarms at a fraction of conventional defense costs. The system, developed by a UK-based consortium led by Thales, can disable multiple unmanned aerial systems for as little as 10 pence per engagement.<\/p>\n
In trials conducted by the Royal Artillery and 7 Air Defence Group in West Wales, the RFDEW system demonstrated its ability to track and neutralize multiple drone targets within its one-kilometer range. Unlike traditional missile-based defenses, the system emits high-frequency radio waves that disrupt or destroy the electronic components of threat vehicles.<\/p>\n
The RFDEW development comes alongside the UK\u2019s recent deployment of its first high-energy laser weapon system, tested on a Wolfhound armored vehicle at Radnor Range. Both systems form part of the UK\u2019s Novel Weapons Program launched in 2021, representing different approaches to countering emerging aerial threats.<\/p>\n
The Thales-led consortium, including QinetiQ, Teledyne e2v, and Horiba Mira, has created a fully automated system operable by a single individual. The project supports over 135 highly skilled jobs across the UK defense sector, with the system already demonstrated for vehicle integration at the September 2024 DVD exhibition.<\/p>\n
As modern conflicts increasingly feature drone warfare, these directed energy weapons offer the UK military cost-effective and flexible options for air defense. The success of both RFDEW and laser systems positions Britain at the forefront of counter-drone technology development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The British Armed Forces have successfully tested a revolutionary Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) capable of neutralizing drone swarms at a fraction of conventional defense costs. The system, developed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,28],"tags":[303,302],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-army","category-military-tech","tag-anti-drone-defense","tag-uk-army"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/UK-ARMY.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1553,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/1553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}