US Air Force to Trial High-Power Counter-Drone Laser Systems

By Mike Ball / 08 Aug 2019

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Raytheon counter-drone laser weapon
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Raytheon counter-drone laser weapon

Raytheon Company has announced that it will deploy two prototype high energy laser weapon systems to troops overseas under a U.S. Air Force contract. The Air Force experimentation includes 12 months of in-field operation against unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and operator training.

Raytheon’s HELWS uses pure energy to detect, identify and instantly take down drones. Mounted on a Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicle, it can track and target a single drone with precision. The HELWS is paired with Raytheon’s Multi-spectral Targeting System, and uses invisible beams of light to defeat hostile UAS.

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“Every day, there’s another story about a rogue drone incident,” said Stefan Baur, vice president of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. “These threats aren’t going away, and in many instances, shooting them with a high energy laser weapon system is the most effective and safest way to bring them down.”

The contract follows successful demonstrations of Raytheon’s directed energy systems for the Air Force and the U.S. Army.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact

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