India’s first laser weapon hits an air target during trial

India showed off its first high-energy laser-based weapon on fixed-wing driverless cars, group styling and fixed surveillance sensors within the scope of specialized testing on Sunday, and conducted a series of “kills” on fixed-wing driverless cars, entering a select international alliance with such features.

Successful trials of high-power directional weapons (DEW) systems demonstrated India’s ability to target drones, missiles and fighters using advanced laser technology. The MK-II(A) laser-guided energy weapon of Defense Research and Development will produce a 30 kg laser that can be burned through enemy drones and can also be easily used for blind surveillance equipment.

The system is expected to provide induction over the next two years, and DRDO may provide technology transfers to certain industry players. Although currently in a land-based configuration, DRDO plans to be satellite-based systems in the future, except for applications in the maritime domain.
“We are the fourth or fifth country in the world (in the world) as far as I know,” Samir V Kamat, head of DRDO, told ET after witnessing the test.

The tests were conducted in a special hangar with key team members present to monitor all aspects of the laser system.

ET witnessed the system first picking up and tracking a swarm of drone targets in a range of more than 3 kilometers, then locking them and emitting a high-power laser beam, thus completely destroying. Officials said a fixed-wing drone had a larger range, and the fighter could also interact with the system. The DRDO chief said that as part of the next step, India plans to “take on the stage to get a larger range and modify it so that it can be installed on aerial platforms, on board, and eventually in satellites.”Accurate and fatal
The MK-II(A) dew system engages through remotely fixed drones across its entire capability, foiling multiple drone attacks and destroying enemy surveillance sensors and antennas, adding that the interaction speed of lightning, precise amounts and corpses make it deliver the target in seconds.

The system is developed by Hyderabad’s DRDO High Energy Systems and Science Center and consists of six high-energy lasers, each with 5 kW of 5 kW, which converge into a beam that hits the target at 30 kW. In the past, a smaller system – 2 kW – has been deployed with the armed forces to take over small drones in a short range.