Britain will begin testing Star Wars-style laser weapons capable of shooting down drones and missiles from up to six miles away.
Defense contractor Raytheon UK has announced it will open an advanced laser integration center in Livingston, West Lothian, next year.
The new European center will focus on “testing, deployment and maintenance of defensive high energy laser weapons (HEL)”.
The weapons are designed to launch drones, rockets, artillery and mortars with just one highly concentrated beam of light.
Raytheon UK was awarded a demonstrator contract to supply a HEL weapon system to the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) last September. This is to be installed on a Wolfhound land vehicle – a six-wheeled heavy armored truck used by the British Army
The British Army will receive a single HEL weapon system for a six-month trial in spring 2023. It will be able to destroy UAVs and enemy drones with the virtually unlimited and free ammunition of a 15-kilowatt laser beam
The announcement comes after Raytheon UK was awarded a demonstrator contract to supply a HEL weapon system to the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) last September.
This is to be installed on a Wolfhound land vehicle – a six-wheeled heavy armored truck used by the British Army.
Michael Hofle, Senior Director of High Energy Lasers at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, said: “We have all seen that asymmetric threats such as drones, missiles, artillery and mortars are a serious problem and there is a growing demand for low-cost lasers to counter them,
‘The establishment of an advanced integration facility in the UK reflects the maturity of our technology and our commitment to deliver the HEL systems our customers need to defend the skies.’
Experts assume that high-energy lasers could account for up to 30 percent of an air defense infrastructure in the future.
Both the demonstrator laser and the advanced laser integration center are designed to help modernize the British military.
This goal was set out in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policies published in March last year.
The government announced it will allocate £6.6 billion in defense funding over the next four years to research and development of new types of weapons such as hypersonic missiles and laser weapons.
John Gallagher, Managing Director of Weapons and Sensors at Raytheon UK said: “Establishing a regional laser integration center in the UK is an important step in delivering advanced defense technology where it is needed, while reducing the overall cost of these systems.
“This center will help position the UK as a leading nation in directed energy and ensure the technology continues to move from the lab to the field.”
The British Army will receive a single HEL weapon system for a six-month test in spring 2023.
The advanced laser integration center will be based in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland
It will be able to destroy UAVs and enemy drones with the virtually unlimited and free ammunition of a 15-kilowatt laser beam.
The system will use an electro-optical/infrared sensor to detect enemy drones from up to six miles away with a 360-degree view.
Once a threat is detected, a laser operator can fire the beam at the target, defusing it within two to 12 seconds.
The modular system can be mounted on vehicles or set up stationary from a building.
Toby Marshall, Novel Weapons Capture Lead at Raytheon UK said: “There is a huge cost differential in the amount of money we have to spend to defend against relatively inexpensive threats.
“It’s easy for an adversary to launch 30-40 UAVs for the same cost as an anti-missile.
“But with a highly accurate, high-energy laser or directed-energy system, where the cost per shot is significantly lower, you can defeat swarms of these threats.
“That’s because, unlike traditional weapon systems, you have an infinite arsenal.”
The government has announced it will allocate £6.6 billion in defense funding over the next four years to research and development of novel weapons such as hypersonic missiles and laser weapons (stock image).
While the laser itself will come from overseas, much of the demonstrator’s capabilities, including the command and control system, external radar tracker, GPS antenna and on-vehicle integration, will be developed in the UK.
The trial aims to show how the system could improve the country’s capabilities and understanding of high-energy laser weapons.
Alex Rose-Parfitt, Engineering Director at Raytheon UK said: “High energy lasers are moving from the lab to the field.
“We are working with the MOD to accelerate this evolving technology and make it available to the British military.
“This demonstrator program will show how the use of high energy laser weapons could help protect soldiers from UAVs.
“By 2025 we will have put the country at the forefront of this emerging technology and will be equipping the British frontline forces with the best affordable sovereign solutions.”
The UK will use LASER to track the position of satellites orbiting the earth and keep them from colliding
Britain will use new laser technology to track the position of satellites orbiting the earth and prevent them from colliding.
The first test satellite is scheduled to launch from Spaceport Cornwall this summer.
Developed by British start-up Lumi Space, the system works by shining pulses of laser light from Earth at an object in space and measuring how long it takes for the light to bounce back.
It’s billed as a “simple but powerful method using light to track satellites” and a target to combat space debris by issuing ultra-accurate collision warnings.
British technology that uses lasers to track the movements of satellites orbiting the Earth is due to be launched into space later this summer
