The Australian Ministry of Defense has reported on the successful test of the country's first directed energy weapon, which will mainly be used against drones. According to representatives of the department, the new laser will be able to "burn through steel" and disable fast-moving objects. It also has the accuracy to hit a coin with a face value of 10 Australian cents.
Recent military conflicts have shown that attack drones are becoming a serious threat to the lives of soldiers and equipment. Such vehicles are relatively small and inconspicuous, while they can carry a bomb capable of disabling a tank (and even destroying it).
Many countries have begun to develop systems that could successfully withstand attack drones. In particular, engineers are developing special lasers. One of the varieties of "combat lasers" is a Directed—energy weapon (DEW).
This weapon is based on completely new physical principles: it destroys targets through direct energy transfer — without the use of conductors, kinetic striking elements. DEW has a number of advantages: the "projectile" from such an installation flies at or close to the speed of light (depending on the type of DEW), that is, much faster than missiles, which are often used to combat drones (along with electronic warfare installations).
In addition, this kind of weapon can hit multiple targets with minimal pauses. Since DEW uses energy rather than rockets, it can potentially "fire" an infinite number of times as long as energy is conserved.
Another advantage of DEW is savings. A shot from such an installation costs about a dollar, not counting the cost of equipment, while the price of one rocket reaches several million dollars.
Major powers like the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom have been developing laser weapons for several decades. Now Australia has joined their ranks.
The Ministry of Defense of this country has reported on the successful verification of its first prototype of the Fractl directed energy weapon "the size of a suitcase." The new system, which looks like a large geodetic laser scanner and weighs almost 50 kilograms, was tested by the military at the tank range of the Pakapunyal military base in Victoria. The installation successfully hit the drone at a distance of 500 meters.
According to a representative of the technology company AIM Defense, which created the laser, Fractl can operate both from a battery and from a network, and is also designed to combat drones of various modifications. The system has high accuracy and is capable of destroying targets the size of a dime Australian coin (its diameter is 23.6 millimeters) when they are moving at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, at a distance of one kilometer. In addition, Fractl can disable critical electronic components of an unmanned vehicle when it is 1.5 kilometers away.
The prototype of the Fractl directed energy weapon, which was tested by the Australian military
Image source: CPL Jacob Joseph, Australian Army
Fractl requires one person to manage it. The laser is precisely targeted using a hand-held controller, which allows the operator to choose which part of the drone to attack for maximum effect.
"First you press the first button and the computer starts tracking the target, then the second one to "pull the trigger", like in a video game. With your index finger, you can quickly switch the sight to the drone's camera, its central part, or to one of the screws. It will only take a few seconds to disable the drone's camera, and two to three seconds to disable its engines," explained Patrick Flanagan, one of the military personnel who participated in the test and whose words are quoted by New Atlas.
The drone that served as a target during the Fractl directed Energy weapon test
Image source: CPL Jacob Joseph, Australian Army
This targeting allows the operator to attack the drone with surgical precision: a laser can cut wires or destroy a projectile carried by a drone, as well as burn a hole in the drone. At the same time, according to the developers, much less energy will be spent than is required to boil the kettle. In addition, the laser is designed in such a way that it does not harm people who can see the reflections of the beam.
The Australian military has not yet said exactly when the Fractl will enter service. But they noted that this installation would be especially effective against small multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, which are usually difficult to spot.
