UK radio frequency directed energy weapon downs first UAV swarm in test

The UK's RF DEW demonstrator on trials in 2025. (Crown Copyright/UK MoD)

The British Army has successfully tested an experimental radio frequency directed energy weapon (RF DEW) during its largest counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) swarm exercise to date, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a 17 April press release.

During the trials in West Wales, UK, the RF DEW system downed two swarms of drones in a single engagement. More than 100 UAVs were tracked, engaged, and defeated using the weapon across all the trials.

The RF DEW is made up of an effector, which generates an intense beam of RF energy, an antenna that directs the energy onto the target, a radar system that detects and tracks targets, a targeting camera, and mission modules, the UK MoD said in a video also published on 17 April. The high-frequency radio waves emitted disrupt or damage critical electronic components inside UAVs, causing them to crash or malfunction.

The RF DEW, which can hit land, air, and sea targets, can be mounted on a wheeled vehicle such as a MAN Support Vehicle 6T. It is designed to provide point defence to counter ‘swarms' of mini and micro UAVs, according to information provided by Thales UK. The industry consortium, led by Thales UK, developed the RF DEW in collaboration with the MoD's Team Hersa, made up of the Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

The UK MoD announced in September 2021 that Thales UK was selected to deliver Project Ealing, established to evaluate the performance of a vehicle-mounted RF DEW system. The RF DEW is able to complement short-range air-defence systems and has an estimated energy cost of around GBP0.10 (USD0.12) per shot.