The defense system named Thor unleashes its “lightning” on drone swarms

In Ukraine, the dronesdrones Iranian Shahed-136 are mostly intercepted, but during massive strikes air defenses are overwhelmed and expensive missilesmissiles defense systems are consumed abundantly. And it’s not just these hulking drones that pose a threat, but also small suicide drones on the front line. To avoid this configuration, the US military has just unveiled a powerful secret weapon. She porteporte the name of Thor (Tactical High power Operational Responder)like the hammer of the eponymous god, his lightninglightning also comes to destroy the forces of chaos. This US defensive weapon system AirAir Force was tested on the desert plain south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It literally grills the electronic systems of a swarm of small drones with powerful microwave radiation. The weapon can thus destroy an entire fleet of drones at once. Silent, the microwave strike is carried out in a nanosecond.

The Thor system saves ammunition and can immediately neutralize a whole swarm of small drones. © AFResearchLab

Silent neutralization in one nanosecond

Thor is nothing new. The weapon has been tested multiple times since 2021. But this time, rather than tackling a single aéronefaéronef, it’s a whole swarm that was nailed to the ground on April 5th. It’s a first ! This high power microwave system has the benefits. First, it does not require firing a single shot. feufeu or to use an expensive traditional air defense system. The process is therefore cheap, very effective and more secure, because only the drone will fall and not an interception warhead. Thor, this is not the only weapon of this stylestyle which is tested by the US military. There is also the laser cannon which can destroy the electronics of a drone. The approach is not the same since the beam must laserlaser can remain long enough on a specific point of the aircraft to damage it.