Monday December 9^th

ArmyRecognition.com released an article titled: “South Korea deploys Skylight laser weapon to protect Seoul capital from North Korean drones”

The article states that:

“South Korea has initiated the deployment of the Laser-Based Anti-Aircraft Weapon Block-I, a stationary 20 kW-class fiber laser system capable of neutralizing drones within a range of 2-3 kilometers, to frontline units and selected urban locations, including Seoul.”

The article goes on to say that this weapon is known as Skylight or Cheongwang (天光). Apparently, production of Skylight began in July of this year under a KRW 100 billion ($72.5 million) contract signed in June. The project is supervised by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

Post Image – The Laser-Based Anti-Aircraft Weapon Block-I, also known as Skylight or Cheongwang, is a stationary 20kW-class fiber laser weapon designed to neutralize small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at an estimated firing cost of $1.45 per shot. (Picture source: DAPA)

Wednesday December 11^th

UK Defence Journal’s George Allison wrote an article titled: “British Army vehicle fires high energy laser weapon”

In this test, the armor vehicle mounted HELWS was operated by British soldiers trained in the system’s targeting and tracking technologies.

James Gray, CEO and Managing Director of Raytheon UK had this to say about the achievement:

“Our High-Energy Laser Weapon System has been used in operations globally, and now the British Army is experimenting with this game-changing capability. The success of this test is the result of the skill, dedication, and vision of our scientists and engineers who have collaborated with the British Army to help fulfil its commitment to staying at the forefront of technological innovation.”

The article also includes a quote from Matt Cork, Head of Team Hersa:

“This milestone demonstrates the power of collaboration between Dstl, DE&S industry partners, and the British Army. By integrating advanced directed energy technologies onto armoured platforms, we’re not only proving the feasibility of these game-changing systems but also accelerating their path to operational readiness. It’s an exciting step forward in redefining the future of defence capability.”

Post Image – The article picture from UK Defence Journal

Thursday December 12^th 

Shephard Media released an article titled: “Raytheon laser takes out aerial target in groundbreaking trial with British Army”

The article covers the UK test at a slightly different angle. A quote from Raytheon is included:

“it has proved effective in real-world conditions, validating its potential as a game-changing”

This article provides some added context on the broader effort by highlighting other companies such as Fraser Nash, NP Aerospace, LumOptica, Blighter Surveillance Systems, and Cambridge Pixel.

The article also adds some additional context on project cost with this work progressing under a contract awarded by Team Hersa for £16.8 million (US$21.5 million).

Post Image – The laser was fired from a British Army Mastiff. (Photo: Raytheon)

Additional Context for This Week’s News

This week was dominated by articles covering Raytheon’s success in fielding their newest laser weapon during live fire tests. I also saw a document floating around LinkedIn about First Person View (FPV) drones and the Techniques Tactics and Procedures (TTPs) surrounding their employment in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

An interesting trend (that is also a bit alarming) is that fiber optic control of the drone and of video feeds are in use effectively eliminated the tell-tale RF signature observe in the control these drones,  while also making them nearly impossible to jam. The document also mentions a desperate technique of throwing “club shaped” objects toward incoming drones which surprisingly can be successful at neutralizing an attacking drone from time to time. Hunting and pump-action shotguns have also been used effectively for shooting FPV drones out of the skies at about 50 meters.

The range limitations of current drone neutralizers is where directed energy can be a game changer on force protection. Our existing methods of clubs, shotguns, and cannons can allow the FPV threat to get too close for comfort for friendly troops. They also are likely too short ranged to take out the observer drones used to augment FPS drone employment.

After an initial outlay of ~$20 million per system (hopefully, system cost will become cheaper on full production Laser Weapon Systems) high energy lasers (HELs) can offer an enduring and sustainable protection to the warfighter out to ranges of 1-3 km and perhaps even longer in the future.

The machine gun unmistakably changed the TTPs of warfare in World War I. For WWI, we saw the fighting become stalemated similar to what we see in Ukraine. Troops incur great risk if they choose to mass forces to a size any larger than a squad. Now, just over a century later, a new technical development in the form of drones is having the same outsized impact on fighting that the introduction of the machine gun had to WWI in the early 1900s.

It’s been said that part of the reason WWI Marines fighting in the Argonne forest achieved a breakout was in part thanks to their novel use of buddy rush tactics against defended positions. Rather than just being mowed down while charging at the guns as many had before them, Marines intermittently dove to the ground and attempted to provide suppressing fire for others to rush under. This reduced the effectiveness of fires from the entrenched guns. This is credited toward allowing them to advance far enough toward German lines to ultimately take out the machine guns.

Perhaps Laser Weapon Systems will prove to be a buddy rush of our time allowing us to neutralize the novel technology. That could allow maneuver formations to take back control of the skies at the tactical level. The document also stated a startling statistic that 70% of casualties in the Ukraine fight can be tied to drone strikes making their influence on the fight enormous.  

Here are some links to videos and documents with more context:

Guns Shooting a Shaheed

Shotgun Shooting an FPV

Drone TTPs Document: