Prøve GULL - Gratis
"I'm not claiming to be a prophet.I merely speculated wildly and, against all odds, hit the mark"
PC Pro
|July 2025
After urgently calling for anti-drone missile technology, Rois is pleased to discover that the MoD has heeded her advice

Nobody likes a know-it-all. Less appealing still is someone who actually says “I told you so.” But when someone unburdened by any measurable technical expertise happens to blurt something out on a podcast (PC Pro podcast episode 725, viewable at tinyurl.com/370pod725), and it later turns out to be eerily on the money, well - how can one not gloat just a little?
You see, some time ago I asked, possibly with dramatic arm gestures, “Surely to God we have the technology to knock things out of the sky with a beam?” I wasn’t proposing death rays – although who among us hasn't secretly wanted one? - but something a bit more precision-engineered. It turns out, we kind of do.
Now, I'm not claiming to be a prophet. I merely speculated wildly and, against all odds and reason, hit the mark. Besides, I wasn't the first to imagine such a thing. Let us not forget that seminal moment in the late 1970s when Colonel Steve Austin - yes, that Six Million Dollar Man (adjusted for inflation, a very reasonably priced £36 million) - helped exonerate a test pilot whose aircraft was mysteriously downed. The culprit? A disgruntled Navy scientist with a beam that could zap the electrics in a plane or Jeep. Science fiction? Not any more.
RFDEW: it does what it says on the tin
Fast-forward to 2025 and the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with the private sector, has unveiled a frankly impressive anti-drone system. For a mere £40 million - the same cost, incidentally, to rebuild Steve Austin. Coincidence? I don’t think so. For that same tidy sum, the MoD has developed a Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon, or RFDEW. No, it’s not the catchiest name - unlike laser, which somehow made the leap from acronym to everyday lingo – but I like it. It’s honest. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Denne historien er fra July 2025-utgaven av PC Pro.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA PC Pro
PC Pro
How connected tech could fix roads
Oceans of data, AI-managed traffic signals and more autonomous cars on the road all have the potential to make our roads safer.
9 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
"I'm an evil system tester, thinking up software-breaking situations, and this occasion was no different"
What would life be like without Google if its services were unavailable due to a deliberate act of sabotage?
9 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
"Ransomware is an extortion racket, and the people behind it are as caring as the Kray twins"
Guilty: it's another column about ransomware, but this one is different as Davey asks whether the government is right to ban ransom payments
8 mins
October 2025
PC Pro
Synology DiskStation DS1525+
A well-priced and powerful desktop NAS with top performance and heaps of data protection features
3 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
LENOVO THINKSTATION P5 TOWER
Great design, but Intel's Xeon can't compete with AMD's processors
2 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
Will Intel ever be back in the workstation market?
Certainly not this year. But there are promising signs for next year, if Intel hits all its claims - and assuming AMD doesn't jump ahead once more
4 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
Commodore: The comeback
David Crookes looks at how a once powerful and influential tech brand hopes to shine once more, including an exclusive interview with Commodore's new owner
8 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
Real world computing
\"I think cynicism is a good thing. And blunt sarcasm has been my trademark for 30 years\". New age-verification laws for 18+ sites raise questions about the trust we can place in third-party services that promise not to keep our data
10 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
Six things to look for in a workstation
There are few bigger and more important investments to make than a new workstation, or a fleet of them. Here's what you need to consider before taking the plunge
8 mins
October 2025

PC Pro
IDrive RemotePC Enterprise
Secure cloud-hosted remote support that's easy to use, very versatile and incredible value for larger businesses
2 mins
October 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size