Insane new anti-drone system zaps UAVs out of the sky with targeted microwaves

[rangerrebew]

Insane new anti-drone system zaps UAVs out of the sky with targeted microwaves
By Luke Dormehl
April 25, 2021 9:00AM PST

In July 2019, multiple drones were reportedly used to swarm Navy destroyers off the coast of California. The mysterious drones, around six in total, appeared over the course of several nights, flashing lights and performing “brazen maneuvers” close to the warships. They flew at speeds of 16 knots, and stayed aloft for upward of 90 minutes, longer than commercially available drones.

It’s not known where they originated from. News of the incident was only made public in March 2021, following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from The Drive, which rested in the disclosure of deck logs from the ships involved in the incident.

Troublesome drones are not a new phenomenon. In one highly publicized incident a couple of years ago, unauthorized drones were spotted near London’s Gatwick Airport, a major hub that approximately 60,000 people fly out of each day during normal, non-COVID times. Concerned about the possibility of a drone colliding with an aircraft, authorities made the call to ground all aircraft for 36 hours, affecting 1,000 flights and costing an estimated $70 million.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/anti-drone-microwave-gun/

[PeteS in CA]

That article is silly! That "picture" with the Star Wars style energy beams is laughable!

1. Anyone with slight familiarity with microwave electronics could have foreseen using a directional antenna and a transmitted pulse to overwhelm a drone's electronics.

2. As weird as it might seem to people outside of microwave electronics, a traveling wave tube is often still more efficient than power semiconductors.

3. The rate of "firing" (= pulsing) is not so much dependent on the output power device as on the stiffness and recovery capability of the power supply.

My current employer is in the computer industry, but a previous employer, for 7 1/2 years, was a producer of various types of traveling wave tubes, klystrons, and microwave power modules (the power supply pre-amp, and TWT integrated into a single package) for the military. The division for which I worked had originally been founded by Charles Litton Sr., so they have been in the microwave industry longer than I've been alive. I tested the power supplies and microwave power modules.

[GtHawk]

That article is silly! That "picture" with the Star Wars style energy beams is laughable!

1. Anyone with slight familiarity with microwave electronics could have foreseen using a directional antenna and a transmitted pulse to overwhelm a drone's electronics.

2. As weird as it might seem to people outside of microwave electronics, a traveling wave tube is often still more efficient than power semiconductors.

3. The rate of "firing" (= pulsing) is not so much dependent on the output power device as on the stiffness and recovery capability of the power supply.

My current employer is in the computer industry, but a previous employer, for 7 1/2 years, was a producer of various types of traveling wave tubes, klystrons, and microwave power modules (the power supply pre-amp, and TWT integrated into a single package) for the military. The division for which I worked had originally been founded by Charles Litton Sr., so they have been in the microwave industry longer than I've been alive. I tested the power supplies and microwave power modules.

Seems to me I recall seeing something like this before, in a documentary way back in 1956.