Laser Carried by Drone Will Disrupt Enemy’s Laser Attack

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New defenses are needed as more countries equip their militaries with high-energy laser weapons. To defend against military lasers, Adsys Controls has created Helios, a low SWaP (size weight and power), completely passive counter laser system which can be carried on drones.

To do much damage, an offensive laser needs to remain focused on its target for several seconds. Helios stops a laser from doing this by disrupting the systems controlling the beam – the Achilles’ heel for all such weapons.

Consisting of a small UAV-mounted sensor package, Helios provides full analysis of the incoming beam including localization and intensity, wavelength, pulse frequency and its source. With this information it passively jams the enemy, protecting the vehicle and the payload. Helios’ interference with the beam control is possibly carried out by firing back a low-power laser of its own – so the attacking laser cannot fix on the target.

According to UAS Vision, a direct hit would have produced a big burst of reflected light, so a pulse sent back by an anti-laser laser could make it look like the original laser was on target.