The recurring five-year promise for drone energy beaming

Will microwave energy beaming or magnetic recharging soon keep small drones operating?

Possibly eventually, but similar Royal Navy forecasts date to the late 1960s, so claims that deployment is only a few years away deserve caution.

A Royal Navy paper from the late 1960s offers perspective on microwave energy beaming or magnetic recharging for small drones. Its authors expected a practical system within about five years, which would have placed deployment in the mid-1970s. Decades later, the promised rechargeable swarms had still not appeared. The technology may eventually work, but the long delay counsels caution when a current forecast promises imminent deployment.