It is expected that a working prototype of the system will be ready in 2023MOSCOW, May 30.
/tass/. The Belarusian enterprise "Scientific and Technical Center "Lemt" together with two Russian research institutes is developing a laser module with a power of 100 kW for the destruction of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at long distances. A representative of the Belarusian company told TASS that the prototype of the device will be ready in 2023.
"We have a joint project with two research institutes from Russia. We are making a very powerful and perfect system - a laser for fighting drones. We are talking about the defeat of drones at a distance of tens of kilometers. Have you read Engineer Gagarin's Hyperboloid? Here it will also hit a drone with a laser beam," he said, specifying that the system's power will be 100 kW.
As the representative of Lemt noted, the program of cooperation with Russian enterprises is designed for two years, a working prototype of the system will be ready in 2023.
Earlier, the company told TASS about the development of a module that uses a laser beam to destroy drones at a distance of up to 1.5 km. The 30 kW system is equipped with a complex for detecting and identifying the type of drones, it is capable of accompanying targets and destroying them with a laser beam, regardless of speed. It can be installed on machines, as well as transported in a container. The first prototype successfully proved itself during the tests by one of the customers from the Middle East region.
To date, several countries have anti-drone systems based on lasers with a power of up to 100 kW inclusive. So, in May, the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems demonstrated a deck version of its Iron Beam air defense system with a 100 kW laser. In March, Japanese Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced the development of a system with a capacity of 100 kW. The successful tests of the air defense system for the ground forces with a 50 kW laser were reported in January by the American Lockheed Martin.
Several countries have less powerful prototypes, mostly based on mobile platforms. The Turkish Jarmol gun developed by the Research Center for Advanced Technologies in the Field of Informatics and Information Security of the Turkish Tubitak Bilgem Institute is mounted on a mobile chassis and has a power of 5 kW. The Chinese Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, CASIC) has a similar development with a power of 30 kW. In France, the Helma-P device, developed by the French concern CILAS (part of the Ariane group of companies) and equipped with a 2 kW laser, was successfully tested.
In the USA, a short-range laser air defense system based on the Stryker armored combat vehicle is being tested, which is presumably based on a 50 kW laser module. In addition, the Office for Accelerated Development and Development of critical technologies of the Ground Forces (Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, RCCTO) is working on a compact combat laser with a power of 20 kW to equip an army off-road vehicle of the infantry division ISV (Infantry Squad Vehicle) manufactured by General Motors Defense.