The U.S. Army aims to produce up to 20 high-energy laser weapons to down three different classes of small drones, according to a recent Request for Information released by service.
At at time when drone intrusions into the airspace of NATO nations are becoming an increasing concern, the request from the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office invites private industry to share ideas for flexible laser weapons to create its new Enduring-High Energy Laser, or E-HEL, system.
The new system is expected to kill smaller drones categorized by the Defense Department as falling within three categories called groups one to three, which range from miniature drones about the size of the Air Force’s Wasp III in group one to drones of comparable scale to the Army’s RQ-7B Shadow in group three.
Drones within these groups are commonly used not only for intelligence and surveillance operations, but also for irregular warfare. They are lightweight and capable of carrying high-grade explosives to reach vulnerable targets. Tellingly, the RFI, released Oct. 30, specifically calls for a response to group three one-way attack drones — otherwise known as suicide drones.
The Army hopes to gain the ability to neutralize all three types at once with the E-HEL system, which is ambitious in its scope. Per the RFI, the service intends for the E-HEL to be adaptable for mobile and static defense for troops on the move and also in semi-fixed positions. Plans call for the laser weapon to be “palletized,” or mounted on an Army Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
Plans for the laser system also call for it to have the ability to track the drones in various aerial conditions and knock them swiftly out of the sky, making “hard kills” on both miniature drones and larger suicide drones. A hard kill refers to zapping the small drones’ ability to fly in midair.
The Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office has been steadily developing prototypes of laser weapons over the past five years, but demands are increasing. The RFI dovetails with the service’s goal of launching a competition for anti-drone laser weapons next year.
Laser weapons systems are becoming sought-after as an efficient defense against potentially diverse arrays of drones.
Australian company Electro Optic Systems has been at the forefront of refining drone tracking and laser weapons, and in September it unveiled a 150-kilowatt High-Energy Laser Weapon called Apollo that it claims can neutralize drone swarms instantaneously.
Zita Ballinger Fletcher previously served as editor of Military History Quarterly and Vietnam magazines and as the historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds an M.A. with distinction in military history.