Drones are widely used on battlefields now and in order to protect its installations from an attack by swarms of drones, the U.S. Air Force has unveiled a new weapon which can be stationed at its bases across the globe. The weapon is called Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder or THOR and it can take down drones. The system is capable of taking down a large number of drones at once with a range that’s greater than bullets or nets.
THOR was developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. It takes down swarms of drones by utilizing shorts bursts of high-powered microwaves to disable the unmanned aerial vehicles.
It didn’t take too long for the research laboratory to develop this system. They were apparently able to do that in 18 months and for $15 million. The Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder can be powered using a generator and is stored in a shipping container. So it can be deployed anywhere and made operational in just a couple of hours.
The Air Force started testing this weapon against short-range targets earlier this year. THOR has to be reviewed by the Department of Defense before it’s approved for service. It has also developed another system for targets at medium to long ranges that’s expected to enter service at some point in the next year.