THOR’s Hammer: AFRL’s drone killer

THOR’s Hammer: AFRL’s drone killer

THOR hammer, Photo by AFRL
THOR hammer, Photo by AFRL

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When used for hostile purposes, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles can pose a significant threat. Nowadays, even skimmers available on the free market can be used to pose a significant threat to strategic targets, either through acts of espionage or terrorist attacks. This calls for the development of accurate, powerful, and cost-effective protection against drones.

Traditional air defense systems, such as Stinger’s mobile missile systems, are effective, but at an estimated cost of $120,000 each, they are an inconvenient way to deal with UAV threats, and cannot deal with UAV swarms. Other technologies, including those based on laser that burn the drones, are unlikely to be able to handle large drone swarms in the near future.

Therefore, the U.S. Army Air Force is developing a new weapon based on the myth of the Nordic god Thor to combat drones and UAVs.

U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Leidos, a company specializing in developing products in the field of security, are working on a new drone defense system: This is a defense tool based on microwave radiation, which is expected to disable UAVs and drones swiftly and effectively.

According to popularmechanics.com, the use of microwave radiation damages drone electronics, and it is possible to beam it over a wide area, resulting in the rapid demise of many drones all at once.

A prototype of the THOR was already stationed in Africa in 2020 as part of a testing operation, and a video posted by the US Air Force says the THOR has already dropped “hundreds of UAVs.” Check it out.