This Week in Laser News – What’s Going on With HELs (Week of December 2nd 2024)
This week, FRACTL, Lasers & Landmines, and MBDA teams up with Leonardo
News roundup by Caleb Hoover
Wednesday December 4th
Wired released an article titled: “Lasers Are Making it Easier to Find Buried Land Mines”
The article covers how Scientists in the US have developed land mine detection technology called Laser Multibeam Differential Interferometry Sensor (Lambdis). Apparently, the technology works by shining lasers into the ground to reveal suspected threats.
Minefields even from previous conflicts remain a problem today. The article cites that there are over 110 million land mines across the world. Also, in 2023, mines killed or injured 5,700 people with civilians making up 84% of the casualties.
Post Image – Wired Article Image from Kolonko/ Getty Images
Thursday Dec 5th
Manufacturer’s Monthly released an article by Jack Lloyd titled: “Sci-fi becomes reality”
The article is extensive but offers some particularly intriguing insight into the capabilities of the system for adjusting aimpoint on the drone on the fly. Corporal Patrick Flanagan is interviewed after testing the system at the Australian Puckapunyal test:
““You push a button to track the drone, and the computer takes over, then you push another button to ‘pull the trigger’ just like a video game,” Flanagan said.
“With your index finger you can quickly change your aim between the drone’s video camera, centre mass or one of the propellers.
“It only takes seconds to knock out the camera and two or three seconds to disable the rotor.”
Post Image – The FRACTL Portable High Energy Laser system set up for testing alongside an Australian Defence Force vehicle (left)TA close-up of the FRACTL laser’s handheld control interface, showcasing its design for targeting (right)
FRiday Dec 6th
MBDA dropped a press release titled “MBDA to Develop Additional Laser capability with Leonardo”. This new initiative is from Italy and covers an established Memorandum of Understanding for the joint creation of a Fire Unit Laser Direct Energy Weapon (DEW), complementing the solutions being developed by MBDA in laser weapons.
The press release mentions some of the work that MBDA is already doing in support of UK’s Dragonfire laser. This effort is another partnership with Leonardo UK and QinetiQ. The article states how MBDA has acquired a stake in CILAS, a French laser technology champion and developer of the HELMA-P.
Image Credit: © Laurent Guichardon / MBDA
That’s all for this week. Keep reading or check back for updates.