British Army fires drone-destroying laser demo weapon from armoured vehicle

A high-energy laser weapon has been fired by the British Army from an armoured vehicle for the first time and successfully destroyed flying drones, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) says.

The system directs an intense beam of infra-red light in the form of energy towards its target using sensors and tracking systems which maintain lock-on and accuracy in real time. For the test, the laser was integrated onto a Wolfhound – a protected troop-carrying vehicle – where soldiers from 16 Royal Artillery were able to track and down hovering targets at Radnor Range in mid-Waleso

The laser has been developed through a collaboration between the MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) – known as Team Hersa – and an industry consortium led by Raytheon UK. As well as Raytheon, Fraser Nash, NP Aerospace, LumOptica, Blighter Surveillance Systems and Cambridge Pixel have been involved in developing the weapon under a GBP16.8 million contract awarded by Team Hersa.

“Every engagement we’ve done has removed a drone from the sky,” said Warrant Officer Matthew Anderson, trials manager for the Army’s Close Combat Trials and Development Group. “While we’ve been testing a variety of distances, speeds and altitudes, one thing has remained – how quick a drone can be taken out. It’s definitely a capability that could be added to the arsenal of weapons that we use on the battlefield.”

Stephen Waller, directed energy weapons team leader for DE&S said the systems is still an “emerging technology” and that the trials have demonstrated that the British Army is “well on its way” to achieving a better operational advantage. And Matt Cork, head of Team Hersa Dstl said the technology “has the potential to offer a credible and cost-effective means to defeat a range of current and future threats”.