British Army and UK Royal Navy new counter-drone soft-kill systems near fielding
Thales' RFDEW has proven its capability. (Photo: UK Ministry of Defence/Crown Copyright)
Ongoing military operations in Europe and the Middle East have accelerated the development of a variety of systems to defeat uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
The technical demonstration of lasers and radio frequency (RF) electronic warfare systems is pushing counter-UAS (CUAS) capability towards development as a fieldable system. This could create a more powerful weapon, beyond the proven current high standard of technical readiness level.
Major systems in development in the UK which reflect this progress are Thales’ RF Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW) and the DragonFire laser and both have passed major milestones in the past 12 months in a push towards creating fielded systems.
Last year, the UK’s MBDA DragonFire laser-directed energy weapon (LDEW) system passed a significant milestone by successfully firing against aerial
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