German Laser Tech Kills Drones from 1 Kilometer away

Rheinmetall demos laser drone killer tech. www.bbc.co.uk...

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 meters per second, and were shot down when they reached a programmed fire sector.

I was surprised at the power of this weapon system. We been working on these as well and the power is not that high for the most part. They say it will cut a steel beam.

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.

These look like a promising tactical solution for incoming fire avoidance.

reply to post by exitusstatuquo


very scary. I saw a little piece on a laser fired from a 747 that shot down ICBMs.

You can gang ThinZAG and HELLADS modules too, get more than 50kW. Not sure what the German company used, but US liquid cooled solid-state lasers are starting to be practical now.

reply to post by Bedlam


These look pretty small and portable so perhaps you are correct as far as architecture for the lasers.

Been going on for a decade. Google "MTHEL".

They have their limitations. Bad weather for instance and copper coated surfaces.

I did read about it earlier. Is it destined for defense/offense or export market?

reply to post by hp1229

Is it destined for defense/offense or export market?

All of them. As long as they get tons of money.

Originally posted by Kram09
reply to post by hp1229

 

Is it destined for defense/offense or export market?

All of them. As long as they get tons of money.

Oh well. The usual suspects would line up for it thats for sure

Not a bad prototype, i so wish i could see the classified US laser weapons,
rumor has it they are vicious, this is the kind of tech that's been out there
for about 15 years now, think about that 15 years as common knowledge
means at least 25 in all reality, i cannot imagine the weapons they are
keeping secret right now, if the rumors are correct MAD is a thing of the
past, interesting world we are going to be living in.......

Originally posted by dainoyfb
Been going on for a decade. Google "MTHEL".

MTHEL is a nice development platform, but what they don't show you in that photo of the optical head are the 11 tanks of reagents. There's several 18 wheelers just out of sight. Also it generates a giant cloud of stinky oily steam when you fire it. Nonetheless, it's ubercool. Just not as practical as ThinZAG.