The laser system. Photo: UK Ministry of Defence / Twitter
The UK Ministry of Defence has announced the successful testing of a state-of-the-art laser anti-missile defence system that has demonstrated 100% target destruction efficiency. The system, developed by several leading arms companies, will be installed on a number of Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft.
“Air Force pilots are close to receiving a state-of-the-art laser self-defence system after 100% success in real-world testing,” the ministry said in an official press release.
The laser system, developed to equip the Shadow R2 reconnaissance and transport aircraft and the A400M, is capable of rapidly detecting and destroying threats such as missiles. The tests took place at the Vidsel test site in Sweden, where the system destroyed a series of infrared-guided missiles fired simultaneously.
The UK Ministry of Defence said that all threats were successfully neutralised with high accuracy. The system was developed in partnership between Pellonia, Leonardo UK, Thales UK and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey noted that rapid detection, tracking and destruction of threats is key to ensuring the safety of the military and giving them an operational advantage. “This laser system is another example of successful cooperation between the UK government and the arms industry,” he added.
How does the system work? First, the Elix-IR system, developed by Thales, detects missiles and filters out background noise using special algorithms to identify only real threats. Once classified, the threat is transferred to Leonardo’s Miysis system, which performs infrared targeting and interferes with the missiles using a laser.
The tests were also conducted with the participation of NATO officers, which demonstrates the Allies’ interest in using this advanced technology.
“Threats are being eliminated faster than you can read this sentence,” the Ministry of Defence concluded in its statement.
