British soldiers have successfully tracked, targeted and defeated swarms of drones in the latest trial of a new directed energy weapon developed in the UK.
The trial was completed at a weapons range in West Wales and was the largest counter-drone swarm exercise the British Army have conducted to date. The weapon system demonstrator is a type of Radiofrequency Directed Energy Weapon (RF DEW) and has proven capable of neutralising multiple targets simultaneously with near-instant effect.
The UK Government has invested more than £40 million in RF DEW research and development to date, supporting 135 highly skilled jobs in Northern Ireland and the South-East of England. It uses high frequency radio waves to disrupt or damage critical electronic components inside drones, causing them to crash or malfunction.
At an estimated cost of 10p per shot fired, if developed into operational service it could provide a cost-effective complement to traditional missile-based air defence systems. RF DEW systems can defeat airborne targets at ranges of up to 1km and are effective against threats which cannot be jammed using electronic warfare.
The successful trial comes as drone swarms are increasingly seen in use in frontline combat in Ukraine. UK Defence Intelligence estimates that last year Ukraine had to defend against attacks from more than 18,000 drones.
With national security a foundation for the Plan for Change, the government is significantly increasing the proportion of MOD’s equipment procurement spend on novel technologies, spending at least 10% from 2025-26. It follows the announcement of the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, as the UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by April 2027.
Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Rt Hon Maria Eagle MP, said:
“This significant experiment exemplifies the strength of British innovation – driven by our home-grown industry, technology firms and scientific talent. We continue to strengthen our defence sector, adding more cutting-edge capabilities to keep the UK secure at home and strong abroad, while making defence an engine for growth across our towns and cities.”
The project has been delivered by Team Hersa – a collaboration between Defence Equipment & Support and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The RF DEW demonstrator has been developed by an industry consortium led by Thales UK.
