The Age of Directed Energy
When Air Defence Runs on Electricity
Laser weapons are proving to be an effective, low-cost solution to aerial attacks
Recent conflicts have highlighted a rising threat from drones. Low-cost unmanned aerial systems (UAS), whether in the form of loitering weapons or long-range kamikaze drones or first-person vehicles (FPV), have successfully challenged sophisticated air defence systems in Russia and the Middle East.
In response to evolving threats from artillery rockets, ballistic missiles and latterly drones, Israel has developed a multi-layered defence architecture over the years, comprising effective, but costly systems, such as the Iron Dome, built by the local Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon, a subsidiary of US-based RTX. The average cost of an Iron Dome interceptor missile is about $40,000, while for the Patriot system, retired by Israel in 2024, it is about $4 million. For THAAD, deployed in Israel and elsewhere the Middle East, the cost is up to $15 million per interceptor.
Israel continued to seek a much more cost-effective system and the Iron Beam, a high-energy laser (HEL) weapons system designed by Rafael became operational in December just weeks before it launched attacks on Iran.
The Iron Beam is a ground-based air defence system designed to counter aerial threats. It features an advanced targeting system and rapidly neutralises rockets, missiles and UAVs using laser technology at negligible cost, which Rafael describes as its primary advantage.
Israel is not the first country to field HEL weapons. The US, Russia, and China have been developing them for a few decades now, and each has its own systems, performing a variety of tasks.
So far, the technology has been used as an air defence weapon to either blind high-powered optical sensors or destroy incoming projectiles and flying objects. As a directed-energy weapon (DEW), the laser system's effectiveness depends on its kilowatt output and the availability of the electrical energy source. The higher the kilowatt output, the stronger and more lethal the laser, and the greater its range.
The laser’s power strength determines its range and the time required to destroy the target. The electrical energy source’s limitations determine how many laser shots it can fire (the magazine size), ranging from a few hundred to an unlimited number. This means a shot could cost a few dollars, calculated based on the price of producing electrical energy. Compared with an Iron Dome missile interceptor and other such systems, the laser is considered a truly cost-effective solution.
The US is believed to have the largest number of laser weapon systems. These include ground-based ones, such as the Directed Energy Maneuver Short Range Air Defense DE M-SHORAD, which is mounted on a Stryker vehicle. It is a 50-kilowatt laser weapon used to counter UAS and RAM (rockets, artillery, and mortar shells) threats. There are also two known laser systems deployed on US navy ships: the Optical Dazzling Interdictor (ODIN) and the High-Energy Laser with Integrated-Optical dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS).
There are still limitations in laser weapons that the industry is trying to overcome.
ODIN is designed to disable the electro-optical sensors on drones and surveillance aircraft. It uses a low-power, 20-kilowatt-range laser to blind its targets in real time.
HELIOS is a 60-120 kilowatt solid-state laser designed by US defence contractor Lockheed Martin. It has the dual capability of soft and hard kill. This means it has a low-intensity option that dazzles or confuses the electro-optical guidance systems of flying objects causing them to crash, and a high-intensity option that neutralises the target by causing the drone or missile to overheat.
The US’ latest laser weapon is its roll-on/roll-off Low Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarm Technology (LOCUST) laser system. It is a 20-kilowatt DEW capable of taking on multiple drones within a 5-kilometre range. The cost per shot has been reported as just $5.
Meanwhile, the Russian Peresvet directed-energy laser system was deployed in 2019 and operates as an anti-satellite system. It is mounted on a truck and is reportedly used to blind low-orbit satellites and optical sensors on reconnaissance platforms.
It is believed to have a range of hundreds of kilowatts and is deployed near intercontinental ballistic missile sites to protect Russia’s strategic assets from being photographed or attacked. The Peresvet is regarded as the only directed-energy anti-satellite system in operation globally. The Chinese Silent Hunter laser system unveiled by Poly Technologies in 2017 is a ground-based, truck-mounted weapon that operates at 30 to 100 kilowatts and can shoot down drones and cruise missiles and disable light vehicles within a 4-kilometre range.
Turkey’s Roketsan also offers a hybrid DEW, known as ALKA, which combines an electromagnetic jamming system and a laser destruction system with a range of 750 metres. The company says there has been increased interest from the Gulf States in the ALKA in the wake of the Iranian attacks.
Although successfully deployed in the field, there are still limitations in laser weapons systems that the industry is trying to overcome, such as size and weight. They also have many subsystems integrated to enable acquisition, tracking and targeting and are therefore vulnerable to cyberattack and electronic warfare threats. The weapon’s efficiency is similarly affected by weather conditions, especially rain and dust.
After deploying the HEL on land and sea platforms, work is currently underway to mount it on tactical fighters to use against other aircraft, drones and missiles. The US has a project known as SHIELD to develop such a weapon. Lockheed Martin is reportedly developing a multi-mission laser system for sixth-generation warplanes, and Israeli Elbit Systems has recently announced plans to build laser weapons for jet fighters and helicopters.
The US aerospace company Boeing was the first to test a chemical laser weapon (which generates a high-energy beam through a chemical reaction rather than a direct electrical power source) from an aircraft, but it faced many difficulties due to turbulence and weather conditions. Advances in artificial intelligence will likely help to provide technological solutions to overcome such challenges. And in time, no doubt, soldiers themselves will be carrying DEWs.
HEL weapons systems are rewriting the economics of air defence.
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