Counter-drone laser: British Army shoots down drones from an armoured vehicle for the first time

For the first time, the British Army has shot down flying drones with a laser weapon fired from an armoured vehicle. For counter-drone defence, the weapon focuses intense infrared light into a beam that it directs onto the target; sensors and tracking systems take care of acquisition and accuracy in real time. The high-energy laser system was developed by the UK procurement agency DE&S, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory – known as Team Hersa – and an industry consortium led by Raytheon UK.

Compared with conventional ammunition, laser weapons score above all with an almost inexhaustible magazine. Against some threats – small unmanned aerial systems, for example – they are therefore an option as a cheaper alternative to weapons in use today. For the trial, the laser was mounted on a Wolfhound, a protected troop carrier. From it, soldiers of 16 Regiment Royal Artillery located aerial targets on the Radnor Range in Wales and brought them down.

Warrant Officer Matt Anderson, trials lead of the British Army's Mounted Close Combat Trials and Development Group, commented: “In every engagement we carried out, a drone was brought down from the sky. While we tested different ranges, speeds and altitudes, one thing always stayed the same: how quickly a drone can be taken out. This is definitely a capability that could be added to the arsenal of weapons we use on the battlefield.”

Counter-drone defence with directed energy

The trials in Wales were part of a demonstration programme through which the British Army aims to explore and test how it can use directed energy weapons (DEW) in future. It was not the first time the laser weapon had been tested there. However, engineers from the Ministry of Defence and industry expect the results to provide knowledge, information and experience as a basis for later requirement decisions.

Stephen Waller, head of the DE&S DEW team, put it into context: “This is still a young technology, but the world has changed and we are seeing increasing use of drones in the combat zone. This calls for a more cost-effective solution to protect our troops.” He added: “The ability to track and eliminate moving drones will give British troops a better operational advantage, and these successful trials have shown that we are well on the way to achieving this.”

Under a Team Hersa contract worth around 20 million euros, Fraser Nash, NP Aerospace, LumOptica, Blighter Surveillance Systems and Cambridge Pixel worked on the weapon alongside Raytheon. Next, among other things, “lessons learned” reports on the entire project will be produced, from which the Army is to derive its future requirements for laser DEW.