US defense and security company Leidos Inc. has won a $26 million Air Force Research Laboratory contract to deliver its next-generation counter-drone system designed to neutralize attacks by both individual and swarming UAVs.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) said it had built THOR with support from Virginia-based Leidos with a contract to continue development of its Mjölnir counter-drone system, which uses microwave tech to take out hostile craft. The platform is based on the company’s earlier Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) prototype, which was billed as being as fast and easy to deploy as it was efficient in eliminating attacking UAVs.
During testing last year, the platform scored a 90% effectiveness rate, which Leidos says further fine-tuning can increase to 100%.
Leidos’s anti-drone asset detects approaching craft early enough to analyze the nature of the threats they pose. It then uses bursts of microwave energy to…
