Laser Weapon - The Killer Buying Guide for Drones

From the principle of action, the damage caused by laser weapons to unmanned aerial vehicles is mainly divided into thermal ablation effect, shock wave damage effect, and radiation damage effect. Among them, the main destructive method of laser weapons is thermal ablation effect. When the laser beam acts on the drone, the electrons inside its skin material acquire laser energy, which then generates violent collisions and is converted into heat energy. As the temperature in the laser irradiation area rapidly increases, when the temperature exceeds the melting point, the drone skin material will be melted or even vaporized.

Vehicle mounted tactical laser weapon system for intercepting "low, slow, and small" targets such as small drones showcased at the Zhuhai Air Show

Generally speaking, in order to minimize the weight of the aircraft, most micro and small unmanned aerial vehicles use non-metallic composite materials to make the skin. Relatively inexpensive materials include glass fiber, epoxy resin, PE/PP (polyethylene/polypropylene), etc., while high-end ones use carbon fiber, aramid fiber, etc. These composite materials have good strength, light weight, and corrosion resistance. Making drone skins can better meet the needs of flight performance, weight reduction, and ensuring sufficient strength. The most high-end large and medium-sized drones usually use high-performance aluminum alloy materials as the skin, which are basically the same as the skin materials commonly used for manned aircraft.

The melting points of these skin materials vary, with carbon fiber materials having a melting point of around 300 ℃, while aluminum alloy materials generally reach around 600 ℃. But for laser beams that can reach temperatures of thousands or even tens of thousands of degrees Celsius, only milliseconds of irradiation time are enough to melt and vaporize various types of drone skins. As the skin melts and vaporizes, the laser beam will continue to irradiate the internal structure and equipment of the drone, causing further damage and destruction in different situations. For example, when a laser beam is irradiated onto the control system of a drone, it will burn out its internal circuit boards and chips, causing it to completely lose its automatic control capability and crash; When irradiated onto the warhead of certain suicide drones, the internal charges can be detonated, completely destroying the drone; Even if it is irradiated onto the battery pack or fuel tank of a drone, it can still ignite and burn.

In addition, the shock wave and radiation damage effects generated by high-energy laser beams can also cause significant damage to unmanned aerial vehicles. For example, shock wave damage effect mainly refers to the formation of high-speed jet plasma after the melting and vaporization of drone skin or structural materials. The huge impact force generated will further damage the internal structure of the drone, causing the fuselage, wings to fracture, and even aerial disintegration. The radiation damage effect refers to the phenomenon where the plasma releases X-rays while being sprayed, resulting in a destructive effect similar to electromagnetic pulses, causing the control system chip of the drone to fail.

In fact, even some low-power laser weapons that emit laser beams that are not sufficient to cause damage to the drone's skin can achieve the goal of rendering the drone ineffective by illuminating its most vulnerable part - the photoelectric sensor. Tests have shown that when a laser beam is applied to the optical window of a drone's photoelectric sensor, the beam is directly focused on image sensing chips such as CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or CMOS (Sensor) through the lens. When the surface temperature caused by beam irradiation reaches around 200 ℃, it can cause permanent damage to the image sensing chip, rendering it completely ineffective.

After the US Navy proved that high-energy laser weapons could effectively deal with drones, other branches of the US military and even more countries began to develop such new weapons. For example, the US Army is also facing threats from drones and cruise missiles. Therefore, based on the chassis of the Stryker wheeled 8 × 8 armored vehicle, a directed energy mobile short-range air defense system (M-SHORAD) has been developed, with a maximum output power of 50 kilowatts. In addition, the UK has developed a tactical laser weapon codenamed "Dragon Fire" with a maximum output power of 50 kilowatts, which can be installed on ships as well as various wheeled or tracked vehicles.

Israel has developed a tactical laser weapon called "Iron Beam" to counter rockets, mortar shells, and drones launched by Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It works in conjunction with the "Iron Dome" air defense system, which uses missiles for interception. Due to Israel's higher operational requirements for the "Iron Bundle", which must be able to intercept ammunition targets, its maximum output power has been increased to 100 kilowatts. In May 2023, the "Iron Beam" tactical laser weapon intercepted multiple Hamas launched rockets for the first time in actual combat.

However, in terms of intercepting drones, the first combat record was achieved by the Saudi military's "Silent Hunter" tactical laser weapon. In 2022, Saudi Arabia held its first international defense exhibition and announced for the first time that its latest equipment, the "Silent Hunter" tactical laser weapon, had shot down 13 suicide drones launched by Houthi militants in actual combat, and displayed the wreckage of the drones that caught fire and burned down. The maximum output power of this tactical laser weapon is 30 kilowatts, with a maximum killing range of 4000 meters. Continuous irradiation at a distance of 1000 meters is enough to burn through a 5mm thick steel plate. Considering that the suicide drones produced and used by the Houthis armed forces are designed to be more rudimentary, and their skins can only use the lowest end PE/PP or fiberglass materials, the "Silent Hunter" tactical laser weapon can almost be said to be easy to deal with such drones.

Future Directions

From the perspective of future development, there are two directions for tactical laser weapons used to intercept drones. One is to combine them with other weapons, such as small caliber automatic guns, machine guns, anti-aircraft missiles, etc., to form a comprehensive anti drone killing system.

Due to the fatal flaw of laser beams that heavily rely on weather conditions, their emitted energy is absorbed and scattered by particles, water vapor, and aerosols in adverse environments such as rain, snow, fog, and dust, greatly reducing their power and range. In this case, the heavy responsibility of intercepting drones has to be entrusted to other weapons such as small caliber automatic guns, machine guns, and anti-aircraft missiles. At present, multiple so-called "light gun combination" weapon systems have been developed abroad. The range of laser weapons is generally 1.5 to 7 kilometers, while that of small caliber automatic guns is 3 to 4.5 kilometers. The two have overlapping kill zones and can complement each other in distance, achieving the effect of 1+1>2.

The second is to further achieve miniaturization and even miniaturization of anti drone tactical laser weapons. At present, the two tactical laser weapons, M-SHORAD from the United States and Dragon Fire from the United Kingdom, can be installed on the chassis of wheeled armored vehicles, which is indeed a huge progress. If tactical laser weapons can further reduce weight and volume, they can be popularized in more small and medium-sized vehicles, combined with remote-controlled weapon stations to protect more infantry. Furthermore, if anti drone laser guns that can reach the size and weight of automatic rifles can be equipped for individual soldiers, the safety of infantry can be further enhanced.

<<<<<<<<<<======================www.spandatech.com==========>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Small Panda Technology (Dubai) Co., Ltd. is a window for global expansion, promoting Chinese brands, Chinese culture, and Chinese technology products. Its main products include drones, anti drone series, and AI robots,

AI bipedal robots, AI quadruped robots, unmanned aerial vehicle systems, small phased array radars, etc.

Small Panda Technology (Dubai) Limited is a product display and sales base, as well as an overseas marketing and promotion base,

Assist friendly countries and regions overseas to achieve a leap from single equipment to AI intelligent and unmanned systems, and from conventional equipment to AI, information, and unmanned systems.

Small Panda Technology (Dubai) Limited has been established with nine functional departments, namely Office, Technology Quality Department, Overseas Expansion Department, Human Resources Department, Finance Department, Peace Work Department, Audit and Supervision Department, Safety Supervision Department, and Confidentiality Office.

For a long time, Little Panda Technology (Dubai) Co., Ltd. has been at the forefront of overseas military industry in terms of comprehensive strength and technological products. Little Panda Technology (Dubai) Co., Ltd. has always adhered to the mission of strengthening the military and the main responsibility of economic construction, firmly grasped the opportunity of deep integration of military and civilian development in the country, actively promoted the strategy of "maintaining the leading position of military products overseas, strengthening military products, exploring overseas development space for civilian products, and expanding civilian products", increased scientific and technological innovation, strengthened the construction of military core capabilities, accelerated the overseas export and promotion of high-tech weapons and equipment such as remote, information, intelligence, and unmanned, accelerated the transformation and upgrading of overseas products, and is committed to building a military civilian integrated overseas multinational company with core competitiveness, making new and greater contributions to China's defense exports and Chinese brands in the new era.

website: www.spandatech.com

Phone:+ 971 4 265 9700

Address: Dubai Market, سكة 1 9

دبي

الإمارات العربية المتحدة

<<<<<<<<<<======================www.spandatech.com==========>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

图像来源，Getty Images

图像加注文字，