Sunday November 10th

Army Recognition released an article titled: Breaking News: Japan’s Groundbreaking 10 kW High-Power Laser Weapon Truck Enters Service with Japanese Army.

In the article, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF)’s new 10-kW HEL mounted as part of an Electronic Warfare (EW) combat truck is discussed. Touted as a significant advancement in Japan’s directed-energy weapon (DEW) capability to help adapt to the modern battlefield.

The article goes on to say that “Japan gains a tactical advantage with a reusable, high-precision tool that minimizes collateral damage and costs associated with traditional munitions.”

Post Image – Japan’s new 10kW-class high-power laser electronic warfare (EW) vehicle, recently entered into service, displayed at the South Korean Ministry of Defense’s 70th Anniversary Review Ceremony. (Picture source: Japan MoD)

Monday Nov 11^th 

Calcalist released an article by Yuval Azulay titled: “Laser technology is a true game-changer. There are applications we haven’t yet conceived of”

In the article, Brigadier General Ran Kochav, former commander of the Israeli Air Missile Defense Forces, considers the dramatic changes to warfare heralded by the introduction of Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) systems such as the Iron Beam.

Post Image – General Kochav with the Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army Koji Yamazaki (Post Image Credit: Calcalist)

Wednesday Nov 13^th 

Optics.org released an article titled: “nLight finalizes 50kW laser design for air defense”

The article covers the fact that nLight has recently began delivering key components for high-power weapon sources. nLight has been facing a challenging market space but has seen a bright spot in this latest quarter with sales jumping to $30.3 million – up 60% year on year.

The article makes a brief mention of a recent agreement by nLight to work on an $86 million dollar contract for a megawatt class laser weapon deal with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI) project.

Apparently, Lockheed Martin is working on a similar effort with their own second phase of HELSI seeking to scale their current 300 kW-class capability to 500 kW.

Post Image – nLight Dynamic 2kW beam for metal additive manufacturing (left) 500 kW-class laser (rendering) for OUSD’s High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (Post Image Credits: optics.org)

Thursday November 14^th

Army Recognition.com released an update titled New Soframe HE441 Tactical Vehicle with HELMA-P Anti-Drone Laser Unveiled. This is an interesting small form factor capability. The HE441 with HELMA-P seems to be a ready made solution to protect smaller maneuver elements from the rising threat drones pose to the warfighter of today.

It’s also worth digging a bit more into some other articles about the HELMA-P such as this one on NavalNews.com. Surprisingly, the article: French Navy Tests HELMA-P Laser Weapon From Horizon Destroyer was published in June of 2023.

This article reveals that the HELMA-P provides a 2kW capability able to engage out to 1 km

Post Images – Soframe’s HE441 tactical 4×4 vehicle, equipped with Cilas’ HELMA-P laser weapon system, demonstrated its advanced anti-drone capabilities at the 2023 Journées Nationales de l’Infanterie. (Picture source: Soframe)

HELMA-P laser weapon system was placed in a container on the heli-deck of FS Forbin (Credit: Screenshot from French Navy video modified by Naval News)

French Navy Tests HELMA-P Laser Weapon From Destroyer