Counter-EW weapon for antidrone defense garners AFRL contract for Leidos
NewsFebruary 25, 2022
RESTON, Va. Leidos Inc. has won a contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to produce a next-generation counter-electronic weapon (EW) system to defend against adversarial unmanned aerial system (UAS) activity.
Leidos -- building on the work done previously on the Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) technology demonstrator -- is tasked with building an advanced high power microwave (HPM) weapon system to bring the newest technology to bear against the growing threat from hostile UASs.
Adrian Lucero, THOR program manager at AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base (New Mexico), said of the new project: “The new prototype will be called Mjölnir, the mythical Norse God Thor’s mighty hammer. Because THOR was so successful, we wanted to keep the new system’s name in the family.”
According to information from the AFRL, the $26 million Mjolnir prototype will use the same technology as THOR with the addition of advances in capability, reliability, and manufacturing readiness.
