Application Research of Laser Weapons in The Field of Anti-UAV

As the core equipment of directed energy weapons, laser weapon systems achieve precise damage through emitting high-energy laser beams that act continuously on the target surface and leveraging physical effects such as ablation and radiation. They can effectively perform combat tasks including ballistic missile interception, air-to-air/ground-to-air missile defense, and precision strikes against ground targets. Compared with traditional kinetic energy weapons, laser weapons have gained a generational advantage characterized by high damage precision, rapid response, and excellent operational cost-effectiveness, making them one of the core directions in the global development of military technology.

At the same time, the rapid development and popularization of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) technology have enabled it to play an important role in various fields such as military reconnaissance, battlefield surveillance, precision strikes, civil logistics, and geographical surveying. However, this has also given rise to increasingly prominent UAV threats. Currently, more than 100 countries around the world have equipped military UAVs, among which small commercial UAVs can be easily modified into low-cost lethal weapon platforms. The asymmetric combat effectiveness of UAVs has been fully demonstrated in regional hotspots such as the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Particularly alarming is the emergence of the UAV swarm combat mode. The cluster attack by 50 suicide UAVs in the 2022 Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict directly exposed the cost-effectiveness imbalance dilemma of traditional air defense systems when responding to such low-cost saturated attacks. Against this backdrop, anti-UAV technology has become a research focus in the national defense field of various countries. As a hard-kill weapon, laser weapons, with their unique advantages, have become the core interception means of anti-UAV systems, and their application has moved from the technical demonstration stage to the practical application stage.

However, the rapid iteration of UAV technology has also brought new challenges, as the defense difficulty of new types of targets such as FPV (First-Person View) UAVs and optical fiber UAVs has significantly increased. To cope with the evolving UAV threats and combat styles, it is urgent to conduct in-depth analysis of UAV target characteristics, and develop laser anti-UAV systems suitable for different target types, combat scenarios, and attack modes, so as to provide positive guidance for equipment development and design. Focusing on the application of laser weapons in the field of anti-UAV, this paper first sorts out the technical foundation and development history of laser weapons, discusses the technical requirements of laser anti-UAV and the composition of laser anti-UAV systems in combination with UAV target characteristics, analyzes their application advantages, and finally looks forward to the future development trend, providing references for related research.

2 Operational Mechanism and Development Status of Laser Weapons

2.1 Operational Mechanism of Laser Weapons

The core damage principle of laser weapons is to use high-energy laser beams to irradiate the target surface, triggering complex physical and chemical reactions, which cause changes such as temperature rise, ablation, and breakdown in the target's structural state and material properties, ultimately leading to the failure of electronic components or structural damage. Its technical core includes three key links: laser generation, energy amplification, and precise focusing.

Classified by power level, laser weapons can be divided into two categories: low-power and high-power. Low-power laser weapons mainly aim to jam and dazzle key components of the target, and have currently been equipped in troops. High-power laser weapons, on the other hand, target to break through the target structure and achieve destructive damage. Their technology has become increasingly mature, and they will play a key role in modern warfare and local conflicts in the future. Classified by the carrying platform, laser weapon systems can be further divided into shipborne, vehicle-mounted, airborne, ground-based, and space-based types, adapting to the needs of different combat scenarios.

2.2 Development Status of Laser Weapons

The research on laser weapons began in the 1960s. As soon as laser technology emerged, its unique advantages of high directionality, high energy density, and light-speed propagation quickly attracted great attention in the military field. Military powers such as the United States and the Soviet Union took the lead in launching relevant research programs, initially focusing on the testing and technical verification of low-power laser weapons.

From the 1970s to the 1980s, the research on laser weapons entered a stage of in-depth technical exploration. Through key projects such as the "High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF)" and the "Airborne Laser Laboratory (ALL)", the United States and the Soviet Union systematically verified the technical feasibility and atmospheric propagation characteristics of laser weapons. In the mid-to-late 1980s, the research focus gradually shifted to the development of medium-power laser weapons. Among them, the U.S. "Airborne Laser Laboratory (ALL)" project successfully verified the adaptation potential of laser weapons on air-based platforms through multiple aerial tests.

In the 1990s, high-energy laser weapons became the core research direction. The U.S. "Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL)" project successfully completed rocket interception tests, which first confirmed the practical application potential of laser weapons. Although the power of laser weapons at this stage was still limited, a series of tests laid a solid foundation for the development of high-energy laser weapons in the 21st century and promoted their transition from the laboratory to battlefield applications.

Since the 21st century, with the breakthrough progress in high-energy laser technology, airborne laser weapons have entered a period of rapid development. Various countries have achieved a series of important results in equipment miniaturization, platform adaptability, and practical application. In 2002, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) launched the "Airborne Laser (ABL)" project, integrating a megawatt-class laser onto a Boeing 747 aircraft platform, aiming to achieve interception of ballistic missiles in the boost phase. Although the ABL project was terminated in 2011 due to high technical complexity and cost overruns, the air-based platform adaptation experience accumulated by it has provided valuable support for subsequent research.

At present, many countries around the world have achieved practical deployment or key technological breakthroughs in laser weapons: Russia's publicly disclosed "Peresvet" laser weapon system has completed practical deployment, mainly undertaking the tasks of UAV and missile interception; Israel's developed "Iron Beam" high-energy laser defense system can effectively intercept rockets, artillery shells, and UAVs; the "High Energy Laser Weapon Station (HELWS)" developed by Germany's Rheinmetall has a power of 50 kilowatts, and has been verified through tests to have reliable UAV and missile interception capabilities. In addition, countries such as France, Japan, and India are also actively exploring the field of airborne laser weapons.

China has achieved remarkable results in the research of airborne laser weapons in recent years. Scientific research institutions such as the China Academy of Engineering Physics, the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National University of Defense Technology have successfully developed a variety of high-power solid-state lasers and fiber lasers, and made breakthroughs in key technologies such as multi-beam combination and adaptive optics. China Electronics Technology Group and China North Industries Group have achieved outstanding results in system integration and test verification. Through multiple ground and aerial tests, they have fully verified the practical capability of laser weapons in intercepting UAVs and missiles. China has listed high-energy laser weapons and carrier technology as key development directions, and actively promotes the integrated development of military and civilian technologies. Equipment such as the "Low Altitude Guardian" laser air defense system and the "Silent Hunter" laser weapon have been publicly displayed in domestic and international defense exhibitions, demonstrating China's technical strength in this field.