THOR evolves into Mjölnir to hammer drones
The Mjölnir C-UAS system developed in the US will use the same technology as its predecessor THOR. (Image: AFRL)
Leidos is working on a new prototype C-UAS solution called Mjölnir, which harnesses a high-power microwave weapon to defeat drones.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has selected Leidos to develop a $26 million prototype C-UAS system called Mjölnir, to feature an advanced high-power microwave (HPM) weapon.
Delivery of the prototype is planned for Q1 2023.
The prototype system will be derived from the Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) C-UAS technology demonstrator, the AFRL noted in a 25 February announcement. The technology will be the same but Mjölnir (named after the hammer of Thor in Norse mythology) ‘will add important advances in capability, reliability, and manufacturing readiness’.
THOR has been tested operationally at an undisclosed African location where it used bursts of intense radio waves to disable sUAS ‘instantly’, the AFRL stated.
Lessons learned from these operational tests will define the new requirements for Mjölnir ‘and will be the baseline configuration for future systems to be deployed around the world’, said Adrian Lucero, THOR programme manager at the AFRL Directed Energy Directorate in Kirtland AFB.
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