NEW DELHI: India on Sunday tested a locally produced laser weapon and demonstrated its capability to knock out fixed wing drones at long range, swarm drones, and surveillance equipment, entering an exclusive league of countries that possess such technology, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.
The successful trial of the directed energy weapon (DEW) system with a 30-kilowatt laser was carried out at the National Open Air Range in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
“The lightning speed of engagement, the precision and the lethality delivered at the target within few seconds made it the most potent counter-drone system,” the DRDO said in a statement. The few countries that have mastered this technology to disable missiles, drones and smaller projectiles include the US, Russia, China, the UK, Germany and Israel.
The DRDO’s Hyderabad-based Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences (Chess) has developed the system along with some other government laboratories, academic institutions and private industry.
The DRDO explained how the system works.
After a target is detected by a radar or its inbuilt electro optic (EO) system, the DEW can engage it at the speed of light, using a laser beam to cut through it, causing structural failure or more impactful results if the warhead is targeted.
“This type of cutting-edge weaponry has the potential to revolutionise the battlespace by reducing the reliance on expensive ammunition, while also lowering the risk of collateral damage,” the DRDO said.
The development comes at a time when the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and the emergence of drone swarms as asymmetric threats are driving the demand for DEWs with counter-UAS and counter-swarm capabilities.
“DEWS are weapons of the future and these will be used for burning electronic sensors on board missiles, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and even satellites. This technology gives the user unlimited supply of ‘ammunition’, it is far cheaper than traditional weapons and doesn’t require a big logistics network,” said strategic affairs experts Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd).
The DEW will soon replace traditional kinetic weapons and missile defence systems due to its ease of operation and cost effectiveness, the DRDO said. “The requirement for cost-effective defence solutions to offset the low-cost drone attacks is driving the adoption of DEWs by military organisations worldwide. The cost of firing it for a few seconds is equivalent to the cost of a couple of litres of petrol. Therefore, it has the potential to be a long-term and low-cost alternative to defeat the target.”
Defence minister Rajnath Singh recently described the power of technological innovation in combat theatres as breathtaking.
“In the Ukraine-Russia conflict, drones have virtually emerged as a new arm, if not a transformative science. The majority of losses of soldiers and equipment have been attributed neither to traditional artillery nor to armour but to drones. Similarly, space capacities in the low earth orbit are transforming military intelligence, surveillance, positioning, targeting and communications, taking combat to a new high,” he said at the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, Tamil Nadu, last week.