Engineer Manager Name: Jacky
Email: mh_elec@126.com or jacky@mh-elec.com
In response to the increasingly serious threat of drones, all countries are looking for new breakthroughs. For example, the laser wall plan proposed by Israel some time ago, in addition to traditional rockets and artillery shells, drones are also an important aspect. The United States has recently begun to develop its own anti-drone system, but the name of the new system is very strange, that is, the hammer used by Thor in the Avengers and Norse mythology, Mjlnir. The reason why it is called this name is because the predecessor of this system is THOR, which is the English name of Thor, and its full name is TACTICAL HIGH POWER OPERATIONAL RESPONDER.
THOR's idea, using high-energy microwaves to attack
Compared with traditional fighter jets, helicopters and bombers, UAVs are characterized by their small size and appearance. Moreover, the cost of some models of UAVs is very low, and the use of high-value interceptor missiles has the meaning of anti-aircraft guns to fight mosquitoes. Therefore, when choosing a UAV interception system, countries will tend to use directed energy weapons, that is, high-power microwaves or laser weapons. According to the current news released by the United States, the Air Force has signed a contract worth 26 million US dollars with Leidos. The new system will use high-power microwave weapons specially designed to destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles.
The size of many military light UAVs is only equivalent to the size of a bird. Under normal circumstances, they only carry reconnaissance equipment such as cameras to spy on intelligence. There are even many drones that are one-offs and aren't meant to be flown back. This kind of drone is generally called a micro-unmanned aerial vehicle, or SUAV for short, such as the German EMT Aladdin drone. This type of drone can carry weapons to a certain extent. For example, there has been a lot of traffic on the Internet recently. my country uses a larger four-axis drone to carry a Type 95 rifle, which can be used to attack people on the ground.
A drone with a 95 rifle and even a version with a grenade launcher
Judging from the weight of the Type 95 rifle, this type of drone can carry at least several kilograms of explosives and at least one grenade. If such drones attack key targets in military bases in the form of suicide, such as generators or ammunition depots, it will often cause very large losses, and it is also very convenient to hunt important personnel. This way not only occurs in movies, but also in reality.
As early as a year ago, the U.S. military said that such small, cheap and directly purchasable drones were too big a threat to its own troops. He even gave an example, that is, the U.S. was hit hard during the Iraq War. A big reason is improvised explosive devices, also known as roadside bombs. This attack method is very simple, but it works very well. In light of a few people and a few vehicles, a tank or a tank full of soldiers will be wiped out, and the cost is only a few washing machine timers and a few Old large-caliber shells. The United States also said the elusive drone is the most worrying tactical development since the advent of improvised explosive devices, and the threat is very high. The U.S. Department of Defense has also established a new office, led by Army generals, dedicated to preventing small drone operations. This year, the budget has exceeded 50 million US dollars, and it has also begun to develop a new system similar to THOR.
The THOR system uses high-power microwaves, which can attack a variety of small drones in the form of direct shots. It has a more efficient attack capability than traditional bullets, artillery shells, and missiles. At the same time, after attacking the first drone After the aircraft, it can quickly transfer to the next drone, and the response speed is also very fast, which can cope with the attack of the drone swarm. The Mjlnir system is developed based on THOR, and after a certain degree of improvement, not only the performance is better, but also the reliability is stronger. According to the current plan of the United States, the THOR system will begin testing as early as 2024, and will be equipped with troops in a short period of time after all research and development and testing work is completed.
Drone swarms are the threat that such systems will have to face in the future
In fact, this non-lethal microwave weapon can not only be used in the military field like the United States, but also in the civilian world. Due to the proliferation of various drones, militants or criminals can use this cheap drone to carry various explosives to carry out attacks, and no longer need to place explosives or directly Attacks with weapons have a high success rate and are difficult to detect. Moreover, various large gatherings are often harassed by various drones of unknown origin. The traditional way to attack such drones is to capture them by casting a net or shoot them down directly with weapons such as bullets. The maturity and application of directed energy weapons make it more convenient for law enforcement agencies or the military to intercept these light but threatening UAVs. Similar to systems that use lasers for interception, both directed energy weapons are very good against drones. Once the power is increased, it will be possible to intercept larger drones or other weapons. In short, the prospect of this weapon is very good, and it may even become an important air defense weapon in the future.
Engineer Manager Name: Jacky
Email: mh_elec@126.com or jacky@mh-elec.com
