The Reading / Listening - Drones - Level 2

The British Army has tested a new weapon to destroy drones. It is a radio-wave weapon system that can knock drones out of the sky. Many armies use drones to attack enemy soldiers, tanks, and cities. Drones are good at attacking enemies and can cause a lot of damage. Britain's new weapon uses high-frequency radio waves to destroy the computer chips inside drones. This causes the drones to crash. The British Army said the system could bring down more than 100 drones almost instantly. This could give the Army a big advantage on the battlefield.

The U.K. spent $53 million developing the anti-drone weapon. The weapon is cheap to operate. It costs 18 cents to fire one shot at a swarm of drones. This is one-tenth of the price of a British Army bullet. A spokesperson said it was important to find cheaper ways to defend British soldiers. He pointed to Russia's use of drones in its three-year war against Ukraine. The U.K. government said: "Drone swarms are increasingly seen in use in frontline combat in Ukraine. U.K. intelligence estimates that last year, Ukraine had to defend against attacks from more than 18,000 drones."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Drones - Level 0 Drones - Level 1   or  Drones - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2025/04/17/in-first-british-army-uses-radio-wave-weapon-to-knock-out-drone-swarm/
  • https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uk-new-radio-wave-weapon-rapiddestroyer-takes-down-drone-swarms/
  • https://www.ft.com/content/41703199-201e-4702-b34a-a0a633cdfcf5


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. tested a new weapon
  2. knock drones
  3. use drones to attack
  4. Drones are good at
  5. cause a
  6. high-frequency
  7. This causes the drones
  8. give the Army a big advantage
  1. radio waves
  2. enemy soldiers
  3. lot of damage
  4. on the battlefield
  5. to destroy drones
  6. to crash
  7. out of the sky
  8. attacking enemies

Paragraph 2

  1. developing the
  2. The weapon is cheap
  3. fire one shot at a swarm
  4. This is one-
  5. its three-year
  6. Drone swarms are increasingly
  7. frontline
  8. defend
  1. against attacks
  2. tenth of the price
  3. war against Ukraine
  4. seen in use
  5. anti-drone weapon
  6. combat
  7. of drones
  8. to operate

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The British Army has tested a new (1) ___________________ drones. It is a radio-wave weapon system that can knock drones out (2) ___________________. Many armies use drones to attack (3) ___________________, and cities. Drones are good at attacking enemies and can cause a (4) ___________________. Britain's new weapon uses high-frequency radio waves to destroy the computer chips inside drones. This causes the (5) ___________________. The British Army said the system could bring down more than 100 drones almost instantly. This could give the Army (6) ___________________ on the battlefield.

The U.K. spent $53 million developing the anti-drone weapon. The weapon is (7) ___________________. It costs 18 cents to fire one shot at a swarm of drones. This is (8) ___________________ price of a British Army bullet. A spokesperson said it was important to find cheaper (9) ___________________ British soldiers. He pointed to Russia's use of drones in (10) ___________________ against Ukraine. The U.K. government said: "Drone swarms are increasingly seen in use (11) ___________________ in Ukraine. U.K. intelligence estimates that last year, Ukraine had to defend (12) ___________________ more than 18,000 drones."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

TheBritishArmyhastestedanewweapontodestroydrones.Itisaradio-
waveweaponsystemthatcanknockdronesoutofthesky.Manyarmiesu
sedronestoattackenemysoldiers,tanks,andcities.Dronesaregoodata
ttackingenemiesandcancausealotofdamage.Britain'snewweaponus
eshigh-frequencyradiowavestodestroythecomputerchipsinsidedron
es.Thiscausesthedronestocrash.TheBritishArmysaidthesystemcoul
dbringdownmorethan100dronesalmostinstantly.ThiscouldgivetheA
rmyabigadvantageonthebattlefield.TheU.K.spent$53milliondevelo
pingtheanti-droneweapon.Theweaponischeaptooperate.Itcosts18c
entstofireoneshotataswarmofdrones.Thisisone-tenthofthepriceo
faBritishArmybullet.Aspokespersonsaiditwasimportanttofindcheap
erwaystodefendBritishsoldiers.HepointedtoRussia'suseofdronesinit
sthree-yearwaragainstUkraine.TheU.K.governmentsaid:"Dronesw
armsareincreasinglyseeninuseinfrontlinecombatinUkraine.U.K.intel
ligenceestimatesthatlastyear,Ukrainehadtodefendagainstattacksfr
ommorethan18,000drones."

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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