By Olha Chepil | 2025-08-05

What was once a secret weapon meant to fry enemy drones is now a silent museum piece.

After a decade of development, the Russian military has quietly shelved the mobile microwave radiation system known as Furor.

Instead of serving on the front lines, it is now on display at the Tank Museum in Kubinka, outside Moscow.

"The Russians were unable to bring the tracked Furor to mass production and simply handed it over to a museum," Ivan Kirichevsky, a military analyst with Defense Express, told Kontur.

The supposedly drone-slaying Furor stayed under wraps for years. But according to defense analysts, it joins a growing list of Russia's high-profile military projects that have failed to deliver, amounting to little more than expensive experiments.

A pedestal, not the front

The system has been in development since at least 2015 and emerged a decade ago in a restricted section of the Army-2015 arms show, according to Defense Express. The project gained attention in Russian media as a weapon "without peer" worldwide.

"It was developed as a way to combat drones at a time when drones did not yet play such a significant role in modern warfare," said Kirichevsky. "Russians constantly showcase monstrous projects that really 'take off' in the media -- some bizarre thing on treads with unclear functionality, yet it grabs attention."

Though photos posted July 21 on Btvt.info suggest ongoing testing and work on the system, analysts say its museum display points to a quiet termination.

"I'm sure the Russians decided the show wasn't happening -- so it was time to shut the project down," said Kirichevsky.

The combat 'microwave oven'

Russia's Moscow Radio Engineering Institute has developed the Furor system, a microwave-based anti-drone weapon mounted on a Buk missile system chassis, according to Defense Express.

Described by Kirichevsky as an "anti-drone 'microwave oven' on tank treads," the system reportedly includes a relativistic generator, reflective antenna, control system and transmission equipment.

Microwave weapons emit pulses that disrupt enemy electronics without causing physical destruction, aviation specialist Konstantin Krivolap said.

"If the equipment has at least some kind of thermal imager, night sight or radio circuit, a powerful microwave pulse simply knocks out all of its logic for a time. The devices don't burn, don't explode -- they just fail," he told Kontur.

The system could suppress air defenses ahead of missile strikes, he added.

"By the time the system returns to its previous state -- or, so to speak, reboots -- a minute or two passes, during which the missiles carrying weapons and warheads have already managed to get there," explained Krivolap.

The photographs published by Btvt.info indicate that the Furor is capable of providing 360-degree defense at a distance of more than 10km. But the Russians' claims about effectiveness and range are far from reality, say analysts.

"When they speak of microwave weapons with a range of 10km, you can stop talking, because it's complete nonsense! From what I have seen, read and dug up, the designs that currently exist have a maximum of 2km, and that's in the best-case scenario," said Krivolap.

Shelving the system instead of deploying it amounts to admitting failure and deception, he said. "For the Russians, lying is like brushing your teeth in the morning."

Spending all the money

The Furor system is the latest in a pattern of high-profile but ultimately unfulfilled Russian weapon projects, military observers say.

Alexander Kovalenko, an Odesa-based defense analyst and InfoResist correspondent, called the Furor emblematic of Russia's defense industry failures.

"Some kind of research work was carried out. [The Russians] built an iron mockup of sorts. But it never went beyond that, because the Furor is basically a laser device made out of a length of plumbing," he told Kontur.

The Kremlin repeats the same cycle, he said: splashy unveilings followed by little to no follow-through.

"This concerns not only new weapons -- it concerns even elementary, even repair, work," he explained.

Kovalenko cited the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, which has been in overhaul for six years, suffering multiple fires and even sinking at dock.

"This colossus under repair is expedient for embezzling budget funds," he said. "It almost sank several times."

The Admiral Nakhimov cruiser has been under repair since 1999 with no clear end in sight. Meanwhile, high-profile systems like the Armata tank, Su-57 fighter and Kurganets infantry fighting vehicle remain stuck at prototype stage.

"Russia is simply not capable of creating anything new and ultra-modern," said Kovalenko.

Even export successes like the S-400 and Pantsir systems perform poorly in combat, he added. Behind the hype are manual assembly, inflated claims and widespread corruption.

"I think it's pure fakery, just meant to pull the wool over people's eyes... These projects were supposed to be revolutionary for Russia, but in the end, they simply turned out to be a waste of funds," said Kovalenko.