Vehicle-mounted High Energy Laser Weapon System mounted on a Polaris MRZR D4 vehicle. (Photo: Raytheon)
Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) has paired its High Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) with the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) air defence system in a C-UAS demonstration at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The live-fire demonstration against a ‘drone swarm’ showed how high-energy lasers ‘can augment existing systems to provide [a] wide area of protection’, Raytheon noted in a 31 March statement, adding that the exercise showcased how NASAMS (developed by Kongsberg and the US company) could be augmented with an added layer of interoperability for medium-range air defence.
In all, the HELWS downed nine Group 1 and Group 2 UAVs.
During the live-fire exercise, the high-energy C-UAS system received cues from the NASAMS Fire Distribution Center and used automated target cueing and a ‘full spectrum’ of EO/IR sensors to track, identify and quickly take down UAVs at tactically relevant distances, Raytheon stated.
Annabel Flores, president of EW systems at RI&S, claimed: ‘We’re showing the world that our defensive laser weapons can plug into existing air defences to find and drop drones in the blink of an eye.’
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
Why space is an essential part of modern military capabilities
Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
Connect with us on socials
