Fox News The Pentagon has awarded a contract worth nearly $16.3 million to Raytheon for a prototype high-power microwave weapons system, officials announced this week.
The system is the first direct energy weapon said to be able to destroy certain types of drones, Popular Mechanics reported Tuesday. The system uses microwaves that emit “radio frequencies in a conical beam,” destroying a drone’s circuit with “a burst of overwhelming energy,” the publication said.
The U.S. Air Force is sending PHASER overseas—the first direct energy weapon ever fielded and a huge milestone for the controversial weapon system. https://t.co/RoollgrxIk
— Popular Mechanics (@PopMech) September 24, 2019
“If you could see the microwaves, it would look very much like a strobe light,” he explained.
The microwave weapons system is able to target drones that are “less than 55 pounds and fly at altitudes of 1,200 to 3,500 feet at speeds between 100 and 200 knots,” or about 115 to 230 mph, such as the RQ-11 Raven, Popular Mechanics said.
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While the move appears timely, given the recent drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, officials say the project has been in the works for some time.
“It is a remarkable coincidence because this has been in the works between the Air Force and Raytheon essentially since an experiment at White Sands [Missile Range] late last year,” Sullivan said. “Those who sell drone-killing weapons keep a sharp eye on the warning signs, and there were many that preceded the attack in Saudi Arabia.”
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the Sept. 14 attack on the world’s largest oil processing plant and a major oil field, but the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran directly. Iran has denied involvement in the attack.
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But there were other incidents before Saudi Arabia that prompted officials to take action.
“There are fairly recent incidents, for example in Yemen, where a very large drone with a high explosive payload killed about 40 people, at a prayer ground of all places. And that was on YouTube,” Sullivan said. “It was a real eye-opener. What happened in Saudi over the weekend was kind of that raised to the nth degree.”
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