"Infinite Magazine" - Bundeswehr shoots down drones with laser cannon for the first time

The Bundeswehr is getting closer to using laser weapons as a new type of weapon without classic ammunition. For the first time, a German warship has engaged several drones at close and close range in tests with a high-energy laser weapon. The tests on board the frigate Sachsen on the Baltic Sea coast in front of the Putlos military training area took place in August, but have only now been published.

The armaments company MBDA Germany does not provide any details, such as the number and size of the drones fought. "The first tests were successful," explains MBDA Germany boss Thomas Gottschild in an interview with WELT.

It is still a long time before the troops can be used regularly. The laser weapon now integrated in a container is a so-called demonstrator, a kind of prototype. MBDA Germany and the armaments group Rheinmetall have been working together on the project since mid-2020, have invested millions and are now hoping for a bid from the federal government. The new weapon system is particularly suitable for defending against drones, drone swarms or attacking speedboats at close range, says MBDA Germany boss Gottschild.

Tests running until next year are intended to narrow down the future range of tasks and ranges. "The technology base is mature and we could start product development," says Gottschild.

The threat posed by drones is currently evident in the war in Ukraine. The head of MBDA Germany left open whether the German high-energy laser would already be able to shoot down the Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, which most likely originated in Iran and are currently attacking targets in Ukraine.

As Gottschild says, based on the developments of the demonstrator, the performance of the laser weapon could be significantly increased. Then even guided missiles or mortar shells could be destroyed on approach. Laser weapons could not only be installed on naval ships, but in the future also on land vehicles or, with miniaturization, even on aircraft.

The laser demonstrator now used has an output of 20 kilowatts. This is significantly less than the US laser cannons currently in development, which the US Navy demonstrated years ago in field tests. China and Russia are also working on laser weapons. However, the head of MBDA Germany does not see a serious deficit. "We see ourselves as a technological leader and at the top in Europe," says Gottschild. The laser weapons used by other countries are also demonstrators and not yet fully developed products.

One of the special features of the German laser weapon is that the competing companies MBDA and Rheinmetall are working together on the project, although both companies have previously pushed ahead with their own laser developments. As early as 2018, Rheinmetall tested a laboratory sample of a 20-kilowatt laser source with the Bundeswehr procurement authority BAIINBw. MBDA has also invested heavily in technology for years. The development of a laser weapon with an output of 100 kilowatts was mentioned several times by the companies as a prospect.

MBDA Germany boss Gottschild sees laser weapons as a complement to classic barrel cannons. "The laser is highly agile, quick and flexible to use," he says. Laser technology would have the advantage that there would be no dangerous splinters from exploding ammunition, i.e. airburst ammunition, as experts call it.

An advantage of laser weapons is also the higher speed compared to spent ammunition and theoretically an "infinite magazine" because there is no need to store ammunition. However, laser weapons have a high power requirement and need cooling.

One of the advantages of laser weapons is that they are extremely accurate. For example, only the optics of attacking drones could be switched off. "The technology is demanding," says Gottschild. “For example, the laser beam has to hit a moving target point the size of a two-euro coin at a distance of one or two kilometers. We now have this technology under control.” Investments have been made in the technology over the years. In the demonstrator, the laser source and beam guidance come from Rheinmetall and the target tracking, user interface and intelligence of the system from MBDA Germany.

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