British soldiers take down drone swarm in trial of RF weapon

British soldiers have successfully tracked, targeted and defeated swarms of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) in the latest trial of a new directed energy weapon developed in the UK. The RapidDestroyer was developed by a Thales UK-led consortium and uses Radio Frequency (RF) waves at a high frequency to disrupt or damage critical electronic components inside UASs, causing them to crash or malfunction. As a result, they are subjected to a ‘hard kill’ mechanism which halts and removes the oncoming threat.

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, making the system highly suited to counteract the evolving challenges seen on modern battlefields. 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 UK Government has invested more than £40 million ($83 million) in RF DEW research and development to date, supporting 135 highly skilled jobs in Northern Ireland and the South-East of England.

The project has been delivered by Team Hersa – a collaboration between Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), according to Maria Eagle, the UK’s Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry. Successful experiments included the Army taking down two swarms of UAS in a single engagement, and the project saw more than 100 UASs being tracked, engaged and defeated using the weapon across all trials.

The trial was completed at a weapons range in West Wales and was the largest counter-UAS swarm exercise the British Army has conducted to date. 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, says the UK Ministry of Defence (UK MoD).

“RF DEW is an exciting concept, said Segreant Myers, a Senior Remotely Piloted Air Systems Operator from 106 Regiment Royal Artillery. “We found the demonstrator quick to learn and easy to use. With improvements on range and power, which could come with further development, this would be a great asset to Layered Air Defence.”

The successful trial comes as UAS 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 UASs.

With national security a foundation for the Plan for Change, the government is significantly increasing the proportion of UK 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.

The development of RF DEW systems could help to protect the UK from unidentified UASs at security sensitive areas such as defence bases, and could play a role in preventing disruption at airports, says the UK MoD. The RF DEW development also supports the Defence Industrial Strategy – to support the UK defence industry in mobilising to help face down global threats and ensuring the sector is an engine for growth in every region and nation of the UK. The UK MoD is working with a range of industry partners to deliver powerful future RF DEW capabilities for UK forces, it says.

Thales, which led the development of the RF DEW demonstrator, employ around 100 highly skilled engineering and manufacturing staff in Northern Ireland on the project, and there are a further 30-35 highly skilled supply chain jobs in Chelmsford, Essex, that directly contribute to the development of the weapon demonstrator.