First trial on British Army vehicle for high-powered laser weapon

A lightweight portable high energy laser system is the first laser weapon integrated on a land vehicle to be fired in the UK.
The advanced capability demonstrator will help the Armed Forces understand the utility of LDEW systems against an evolving threat.
The next phase of testing will involve trials with Army personnel later this year, further evaluating the system’s capabilities and benefits in real-world scenarios.
The low cost system is fully portable and easy to operate. The system can track multiple targets at the same time.
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[@ukrainiansubarer7767]

Welcome to Ukraine, here we have the best facilities to test your great equipment )) Almost each and every night tons of drones flying less than 1 km from the surface, so you can choose any to shot down with your laser-gun.

[@flubalubaful]

Agreed if they send a few of these and they prove themselves and Ukrainians get to use them we could see these as the weapon that stops drones and possibly anything the enemy can fire. I would hope they allow Ukraine to keep a system but I doubt that, maybe let it help Ukraine for a few months though.

[@CambridgePixel]

@CambridgePixel are proud that our radar and sensor processing solutions support technology innovations like this that defend against new and emerging threats.

[@bubuneowoo6161]

Just waste of money. New drones are resistant to military-grade lasers. Please educate yourself!

[@toddsavy]

Anything white can’t be burnt by a lazer!

[@louisgordon4388]

​@@bubuneowoo6161most small drones are made of plastic, they're definitely not resistant to lasers

[@EnglishTeacherBerlin]

I still find Star Peace the better alternative for mankind than Star Wars.

[@LionBlu2000]

Russian language does not have word 'Peace' in it.

[@flubalubaful]

We all want peace, sadly these and other weapons are needed more than ever to protect us from the likes of russia and others.

[@oskareriksson3835]

Now I just need two of these mounted on top a Surplus APC and paint the whole thing in Macragge blue

[@vincespeedmk223]

For the Emperor!!!

[@Mehta555555]

Nice one James 👍🏽

[@EclectickMusic]

With them developing that type of weaponry, I just hope they are aware of the disruption they will ultimately cause to the industry as it currently is. You’re gonna be taking a hell of a lot of money off the table for a lot of people. Stay safe 🙏🏾

[@radeksvoboda7629]

I think the most important is a tracking system with identification of allies and enemy drones, otherwise how do you know which of the hundreds above you to shoot down???

[@flubalubaful]

I am sure they thought about that.

[@lg5819]

The U.K. is s superpower when it comes to innovation but our greatest minds in world class universities like Oxford, Cambridge and imperial college London and other world leading universities in the U.K. struggle to get the funding to develop cutting edge tech in the U.K. so lots of british entrepreneurs relocate abroad to the US to develop our tech there. Arm who makes some of the worlds best chips for most of the worlds mobile phones is british but relocated to the US when it needed funds to scale up its operations to make it a global player and couldn’t secure funding in the U.K. which is why a Japanese firm acquired it.

[@desild5869]

Typical ad-like presentation but the flaws are immediately obvious. How much does a wave of drones sent to take one of these out cost and how much does this thing cost and, more importantly, in a war context, how many of these things can be made daily? Think about how many ultra high tech parts are involved here and how fragile and complicated their supply chains are. It's immediately obvious this anti-drone solution is impossible to deploy anywhere close to as easily as waves upon waves of drones. Finally, consider the reaction from drone makers. This thing can hopefully track relatively predictable drones but it's super unlikely it's able to track fast, low-flying, twitchy, FPV-driven drones already in use in UA. It's obvious it doesn't just ZAP! targets. It takes a few long seconds to burn through each one. Now think how it will fare against a swarm of fast drones coming to take it out. Not well is my bet. And this is all before considering seriously advanced military drones, not the commercial repurposed ones used in UA. Pretty sure advanced militaries already have swarm navigation where 5-10 drones fly as a pack but a human operator only controls one at a time while the rest follow the leader autonomously. Such a swarm is still pretty cheap and it's impossible to take out before it reaches your expensive radar+laser+etc.

[@ukrainiansubarer7767]

typical russian reaction on something advanced ))) What are "military grade drone"? Shahed 131/136 which flies on 300-1000 m of elevation with a speed of 180 km/h?

[@krzysztofkowalski4784]

@desild5869 There is no weapon that is perfect against everything. If it was to be used only against some low budget drones, it’s still good since it does not waste that much money on missiles. Why use expensive missiles to take down a drone worth say 1k$? Good example is Izrael and hamas, where hamas uses shitty rockets for couple hundred dollars, but isrealis Iron Dome has to use missiles worth like 50-100k$ to take them down. And regarding tracking, I think that tracking system can be very accurate and the lasers can be adjusted just as precisely and fast since they move with the speed of light.

[@ukrainiansubarer7767]

@@krzysztofkowalski4784 kinda less than speed of light. Regarding "low budget drones". Above I mentioned about iranian Shahed 131/136. Do you consider them as "low budged" or "military grade"? Average elevation they fly is about 300 meters, sometimes lower sometimes much higher. But their body made of fiberglass based on epoxy resin. i thing this laser gun is one of the most perfect weapons to hit such drones.

[@bubuneowoo6161]

Just waste of money. New drones are resistant to military-grade lasers. Please educate yourself

[@bubuneowoo6161]

Just waste of money. New drones are resistant to military-grade lasers. Please educate yourself

[@johnthomas2605]

What if the object has a mirrored surface, would it still work?

[@grafvonelend]

Ja,da es sich um gebündeltes,quasie gepresstes,hartes Licht handelt handelt.Die Protonen werden stark gebündelt und haben damit eine Art Festigkeigkeit.Ein Teil würde er zwar reflektieren,aber den Teil den er nicht reflektiert,der würde den Spiegel zerstören.Das war jetzt sehr sehr einfach erklärt.Eigtl steckt da noch eine menge mehr Physik drin😅.Aber das würde jetzt zuviel hier werden.Dennoch denke ich das es noch optimal läuft und das hier nur Muskelspiele sind.Auf grossen Schiffen,kann man es installieren,auf vll grossen Trucks,mit einer Menge Kraftstoff für die Generatoren.Also nur mit dem Bordstrom und eventuell einigen Batterien halte ich das für nicht möglich.Aber ich lasse mich gerne korrigieren 🤗

[@LionBlu2000]

@@grafvonelend Speak English, Kraut. Don't you see which language is used here?

[@grafvonelend]

@@LionBlu2000 😂 Google translates it for You.Learn the language of you fear...Kraut😂😂😂 is good😂😂

[@flubalubaful]

The intensity of the beam would burn through a mirror. A beam that can hit a 50p piece from over a mile away is not going to be obstructed by a mirror finish, it is more to do with heat than light.

[@mikeddarren]

Silver foil.???

[@PortalAuditor]

Zapomnieli podać kosztów produkcji i jaka szkoda została wyrządzona naturze.

[@Gela_7_7_7]

But does it make star wars sound?

[@flubalubaful]

The real question needing answered, sound and colour of the beam.

[@doxides]

10P for Per shot, 10k for operating

[@funkblack]

Better than 50k per shot, 10k for operating.

[@unknownfinleyfn9366]

This is fantastic could use it around the UK as air defence.

[@EveYakari]

Gibt's schon lange.... Maui.....

[@elke3637]

Imagine using that research money to build better communication for a World filled with peace..Raytheon, horrendous, war mongering company, that brings nothing but suffering to humanity.

[@joltee9317]

Here here

[@nzer19]

He says… on the internet… developed by the US defence department.

[@joltee9317]

@@nzer19 that's a loose connection. To suggest you can't be critical of weapons development because of this is ludicrous

[@johnny3_]

Then you would be speaking German

[@ChauvinistTroll]

The biggest suffering is brought by Putin - if it wasn't for dictators like him we wouldn't need Raytheon to exist. Russians really need to wake up and stop Putin!

[@Dd25-qr25]

Won’t be any good if there wearing boots that melt like they did in Afghanistan 😂for that money they could spent it on looking after the shit they buy

[@ChauvinistTroll]

Better than Russian solidiers with flip flops and WW2 socks 🤣🤣🤣

[@Dd25-qr25]

@ChauvinistTroll how did the brits do in Middle East? They were fighting ones with flip flops and lost! 😂😂

[@ChauvinistTroll]

@@Dd25-qr25 they did great! How did Russians do in Afghanistan though 😬?

[@Dd25-qr25]

@ChauvinistTroll when did the Russians invade Afghanistan again? Oh yeh back in the 70s/80s the brits went in with all the tec and no boots and got driven out by lads that had nothing not one tenth the brits had embarrassing and now the brits can’t even look after there own on there own soil Jesus sort yourselves out

[@ChauvinistTroll]

@@Dd25-qr25 yeah in the 80s and got their sht pushed in