Talks about the testing of a new British laser weapon did not have time to die down, as the government of this country issued another press release in which it talked about the work on another installation against drones. Experts believe that this weapon — an alternative to expensive rockets. 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 air targets, but there are several problems associated with them. Missile systems need to be reloaded after the set of ammunition is spent, which takes time, which is especially precious in wartime 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 due to the direct transfer of energy without the use of conductors, kinetic striking elements. DEW has a number of advantages: "projectile" from such an installation it flies at or close to the speed of light (depending on the type of DEW), that is, much faster than a missile.
In addition, such a weapon can hit multiple targets with minimal pauses. Because DEW uses energy, not rockets, it can potentially "shoot" an infinite number of times as long as energy is conserved.
One of the few countries trying to equip its army with DEW — Great Britain. In March 2024, the Royal Military Department already tested a 50 kilowatt DragonFire laser weapon designed to combat drones.
The system has the accuracy to hit a £1 coin from a kilometer away. According to the Ministry of Defense, in 10 seconds of operation, DragonFire consumes as much energy as a regular household heater for an hour. As for the cost of one 'shot', it's less than £10 (nearly US$13).
Now the British government talked about work on another “drone killer”; — by the radio frequency energy weapon of directed energy (The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon), "shot" which will be much cheaper than DragonFire, only 13 cents.
This type of directed energy weapon uses radio waves that can disable enemy drones by damaging their critical electronic components. The system can use a mobile power source to generate radio frequency pulses that converge into a single combat beam.
According to the press release, the British RF energy weapon can be operated by one person and will detect, track and engage targets up to kilometer (this distance is planned to be increased in the future). It will be able to 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 provide a decisive advantage armed forces on the battlefield, and will also help save people's lives and prevent deadly threats,— explained Paul Hollinshead, the head of the defense enterprise Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, which is involved in the development of weapons.
The first tests of new weapons will take place 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.