Dragonfire Laser Alternative: Why Armed Forces Need Electromagnetic Weapons Against Drones

The Ealing complex uses powerful radio waves and has a number of advantages over laser emitters, for example, does not require aiming and can "burn" whole swarms of drones. In the United Kingdom, they tested the mobile energy system of the project of Ealing to fight drones, which is one of the alternatives to Dragonfire combat laser. In this case, the electromagnetic complex has some advantages over the laser. Defense Express writes about it.

It is reported that the new antironous complex includes both UAV detection and electromagnetic pulse generator. It can destroy drones by burning electronic components at a considerable distance by means of directional energy in the microwave. Thus, these weapons can potentially stop the whole swarms of drones. A sample of such a system, installed on the HX60 chassis, was noticed at the landfill at the 7th Group of Air Defense of the British Armed Forces.

The British Defense Department does not comment on the tests themselves, so the exact characteristics of the complex are unknown, but it is based on the same idea as in the Epirus Leonidas system created for the US Army. The publication states that in Britain, electromagnetic weapons are one of the alternatives to Dragonfire combat laser, which London is ready to pass on Ukraine's defense forces at the prototype stage to test the system in real combat.

The authors of the publication do not rule out that after the laser complex, Ukrainians can receive energy weapons for testing. Unlike combat lasers, electromagnetic weapons do not require concentration on one purpose, but simply "burns" all drones in a certain sector. Another advantage of directional energy systems is independence from weather conditions.

At the same time, the issues of effective range and possible measures to increase the stability of electronic components to electromagnetic pulses remain open. We will remind, according to the British Ministry of Defense, the latest complex trials of Dragonfire, conducted on the Hethobrid islands in the fourth quarter of 2023, demonstrated the ability of the system to track and destroy dynamic air targets at a long distance.