British military uses radio waves to defeat mass drone attack

Ministry of Defence has announced that a frequency wave device can fend off swarms of more than 100 kamikaze drones

Britain's new RFDEW weapon can take on mass drone attacks. MoD

The British army has developed an advanced weapon that can shoot down swarms of more than 100 drones, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

Defence sources have also disclosed that the RFDEW (Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon) could be sent to Ukraine where hundreds of civilians have been killed in Russian massed drone and missile attacks.

Iran and the Houthis in Yemen have also used major drones attacks against Israel and the Gulf States.

The British army is understood to be one of the first militaries to develop a successful mass counter drone weapon after the RFDEW shot down a swarm at a weapons range in west Wales.

Radio waves warfare

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Thursday that it had concluded the “the largest counter-drone swarm exercise that the British army has conducted to date”.

RFDEW, which has benefited from a £40 million investment, had been able to “neutralise multiple targets simultaneously with near-instant effect”, the MoD added.

Unlike laser-directed energy weapons – such as the army’s DragonFire – it uses a radio frequency rather than a laser beam of light energy to disrupt threats.

The high-frequency radio waves disable critical electronic components inside drones, causing them to crash or malfunction.

Each burst costs 10p (12 cents) per shot, which is a substantial saving on more traditional surface-to-air defence systems that can cost £1 million per missile.

The RFDEW has a limited range of 1km and is effective against threats that cannot be jammed by traditional electronic warfare methods.

It currently has to be mounted on a vehicle, but advances in miniaturisation technology could enable it to be carried by soldiers.

Hundred drone attack

In one experiment gunners from the Royal Artillery used the weapon to take down two drone swarms in a single attack. The device was able to track, engage and defeat barrages of more than 100 drones per attack, the MoD said.

“We found the demonstrator quick to learn and easy to use,” said Sgt Mayers, who was the first soldier to successfully use the weapon. “With improvements on range and power, which could come with further development, this would be a great asset to layered air defence.”

The system will also be used to protect military bases as well as civilian airports and can be mounted on warships.

Firefighters put out a blaze following Russia's drones attack in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk, on Wednesday. AP

Ukraine usage

The successful trial comes as drone swarms are increasingly seen in frontline combat in Ukraine, with UK Defence Intelligence estimating that last year the country had to defend against attacks from more than 18,000 drones.

“As the RFDEW becomes more refined it will certainly be taken to Ukraine to see how it goes up against massed Russian attacks on cities,” a defence source said. “It could be a game changer.”

Ukraine itself is developing drones on a massive scale. It made 2.2 million small models last year and is planning to make five million this year, including 30,000 medium-sized weapons that can strike deep into Russia.

The kamikaze drones have also had a major impact on the battlefield, killing thousands of Russian infantry and helping to destroy hundreds of armoured vehicles, considerably assisting Ukraine’s inferiority in terms of personnel numbers.

But Russia too has doubled its spending on drones, including manufacturing the Iranian Shahed models, spending more than $1 billion on all models last year and doubling its workforce to 8,000 drone-makers since 2023.

Russia, and latterly Ukraine have also developed fibre optic drones that are immune to electronic jamming because they emit no radio signals. It is unclear whether RFDEW will be effective against them.

Novel technologies

Britain is increasingly focusing its attention on what the MoD calls “novel technologies” as western armies attempt to combat military developments in Ukraine and the Gaza-Israel conflict.

This will now make up 10 per cent of defence spending from next year, following the increase in the budget to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.

“This significant experiment exemplifies the strength of British innovation – driven by our home-grown industry, technology firms and scientific talent,” said Maria Eagle, Minister for Defence Procurement. It also “added more cutting-edge capabilities” to the armed forces.

The project was developed by Team Hersa, a collaboration between Defence Equipment & Support and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, alongside defence company Thales UK.