ASELSAN Says EJDERHA Neutralizes 51 Drones in Anniversary Test

The demonstration opened with a test that conventional radio-frequency jammers typically cannot meet. ASELSAN said EJDERHA first disabled two tethered drones at a range of about 1,000 meters.

System Hits Tethered Drones

Traditional counter-UAV tools that jam a wireless control link often have no effect on tethered drones, which take commands through a cable. ASELSAN says the result shows EJDERHA can protect against a threat regardless of how it is flown.

The company then launched 51 drones at once, a number chosen to mark its 51st anniversary. It said EJDERHA neutralized all of them within seconds.

ASELSAN describes the swarm trial as a world first for a directed-energy system of this kind, a claim not independently verified.

Akyol Says Production Has Started

ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol said employees had gathered for the anniversary demonstration. “ASELSAN’s EJDERHA system became the first system in the world to shoot down 51 drones with a single button, without firing a missile or using any munition,” he said.

Akyol said high-power electromagnetic waves had made the system one of the most effective answers to drones, which he called one of the greatest threats of the era. He credited 50 years of company experience, a young engineering staff, the course set by the state and public support.

“As a result of these efforts, EJDERHA is now a technology that has entered the field, gone into serial production and reached a level where it can contribute to our country’s security,” Akyol said. He said ASELSAN would keep investing in high technology so Türkiye can look to the future with confidence.

EJDERHA Joins the Steel Dome

ASELSAN developed the EJDERHA AD high-power electromagnetic, or HPEM, counter-UAV system to detect and neutralize mini and micro-class drones, including FPV aircraft. The company says the system is meant to serve in ÇELİKKUBBE, or Steel Dome, Türkiye’s national layered air defense architecture.

That network already includes other ASELSAN sensors and effectors. In June, SİPER 2 reached full operational capability after a live-fire test, and the company has continued to book large air defense export contracts.

How the Directed-Energy System Works

EJDERHA uses vacuum-electronics technology to generate high-power electromagnetic waves that attack a drone’s electronic components. ASELSAN says the system can suppress, reboot, disable or damage any threat that contains electronic circuits, including navigation, communications and command-and-control equipment, from a safe distance.

Radar provides active detection, an electro-optical suite tracks the target, and a precision pointing system steers the beam. The company says the system has already been demonstrated in the field against mini and micro UAVs, fixed-wing low-altitude aircraft, tethered and wireless FPV drones, and UAVs with internal combustion engines.