US Army buys microwave guns to combat drones

Main article: Microwave weapons

In August 2018, it became known about the purchase of microwave weapons by the US Army to combat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Lockheed Martin will supply this equipment.

We are talking about a system installed on airplanes and helicopters and designed to disable drones using a beam of focused microwave radiation at a great distance.

The US military's decision to use microwave emitters was announced after an assassination attempt on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using drones took place. The organizers of the assassination attempt filled two quadcopters with explosives, which were supposed to fly up to the podium, for which the head of state spoke. However, the guards managed to knock the drones off course with the help of installed artificial interference. The president himself was not injured, but several soldiers were injured.

Now the technical barriers are so reduced that literally anyone who has enough money to afford an unmanned aerial vehicle, with the technical competence of a 12-year-old, can commit such an attempt, "said RAND analyst Colin Clark.

The US Army in 2017 tested the SHiELD (Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator) microwave system, also created by Lockheed Martin. These weapons are designed to shoot down enemy missiles. However, SHiELD has not yet found widespread use, and the development was simply awarded a $26 million award.

Most drones can be neutralized with targeted radio interference. At the same time, the UAV loses contact with the operator and simply lands in automatic mode. Attempts were also made to combat drones with the help of specially trained hawks, but this practice was not widely used, notes The Verge.^[1]

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