The laser weapons system can cut through a
steel girder
A laser weapons
system that can shoot down two drones at a distance of over a mile
has been demonstrated by Rheinmetall Defence.
The German defence firm used the high-energy laser equipment to
shoot fast-moving drones at a distance.
The system, which uses two laser weapons, was also used to cut
through a steel girder a kilometre away.
The company plans to make the laser weapons system mobile and to
integrate automatic cannon.
The 50kW laser weapons system used radar and optical systems to
detect and track two incoming drones, the company said. The
nose-diving drones were flying at 50 metres per second, and were
shot down when they reached a programmed fire sector.
The weapons system was used to shoot drones
out of the air
Weather trials
The weapons system locked onto the unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) by using radar for a rough approximation of the location of
the targets, then fine-tuned the tracking using an optical system.
The high-energy laser system was used to cut through a 15mm-thick
steel girder, and to shoot out of the air a steel ball designed to
mimic a mortar round.
The company has tested the laser system in a variety of weather
conditions, including snow, sunlight, and rain.
Rheinmetall plans to test its laser weapons mounted on different
vehicles and to integrate a 35mm revolver cannon into it.
A number of governments and defence firms are in the process of
developing weapons that use or incorporate lasers. For example,
Raytheon
unveiled a 50kW anti-aircraft laser at the Farnborough Airshow
in 2010, and in June 2012 the US Army released details of a weapon
that can
fire a laser-guided lightning-bolt at a target.
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