New Anti-Drone Combat Lasers: How They Work
Combat lasers have emerged as one of the promising areas. They are capable of hitting certain aerial targets without using missiles, but the effectiveness of such systems depends on weather, power of the installation, and other technical factors. Military departments are already testing laser systems and are gradually moving from experimental developments to the production of individual systems. For different countries, this is an opportunity to expand their defensive arsenal, and for Ukraine, the development of this technology is of particular interest from both military and civilian perspectives.
Simple Principle of Operation: Beam Focus and Energy Transfer
To understand the physics of the process, it is enough to remember a simple experiment with a regular magnifying glass on a sunny day. If you point a glass lens at a piece of paper, it gathers sunlight into a small spot, and the paper in that spot heats up so much that it can begin to smolder and catch fire.
Combat laser weapons act in a similar way, but instead of sunlight, they use a high-power laser beam generated using electrical energy, and instead of an ordinary magnifying glass, a complex optical system is used. The laser does not simply illuminate the drone, but strongly heats the drone’s body. If the beam is held in one place long enough, it can damage the airframe, battery, or important electronic components.
Targeting Complexity: How to Keep the Beam on a Moving Target
The main engineering difficulty lies not only in creating a powerful beam of light, but also in precisely holding the beam on a moving target at a considerable distance, which for some systems can be several kilometers. The degree of automation depends on the specific system, and the operator can monitor its operation.
First, radar or another detection system determines the drone's position. Then optical sensors help point the laser at the target and track its movement. Automation adjusts the beam direction taking into account the drone's movement and vibrations of the installation, as well as atmospheric effects. To transfer enough energy and damage the target, it is necessary to hold the beam on a certain area of its body for some time. If the drone sharply changes direction or moves outside the engagement zone, dealing with it becomes more difficult.
How Combat Lasers Became More Practical
The idea of using light to strike targets has existed for a long time, but its practical implementation required decades of scientific research. Early laser systems featured bulky equipment, high power consumption, and the need for complex infrastructure. Some chemical lasers also produced hazardous byproducts.
Modern systems have become more practical thanks to advances in laser sources, optics, guidance systems, power supply, and cooling. Nevertheless, such systems still require significant resources and regular maintenance.
Low Cost per Shot and Expensive Operation
The main advantage of lasers is the low cost of each shot. Unlike anti-aircraft missile systems, whose ammunition load is limited by the number of missiles, a laser system does not expend separate ammunition for each target engagement. However, its operation depends on the availability of electricity and cooling system capabilities.
The cost of a single shot can be extremely low. For example, the British government estimates the cost of a DragonFire laser shot at approximately 10 pounds sterling. This figure does not reflect the total costs of development, manufacturing, maintenance, and operation of the system.
Swarm Defense and Real Technology Limitations
Although the beam reaches the target almost instantly, hitting it takes time. Therefore, during a mass attack, a laser system's ability to sequentially strike drones depends on the speed of transition between targets and the exposure time for each of them.
Laser systems are considered a possible addition to the means of countering group drone attacks. However, usually one system hits one target at a time, after which it needs to point at the next one. If drones constantly change direction, holding the beam on them becomes more difficult. Fog, rain, smoke, and dust can also reduce laser effectiveness.
From Trials to Production: Global Experience and Prospects for Ukraine
Development and implementation of laser systems are at different stages depending on the specific program. The U.S. Army developed and tested 50 kW laser systems on Stryker armored vehicles, as reported by defense publication Defense News, and in Defense News materials from August 2025, a new competition program was reported to develop laser weapons for countering drones. Later on August 31, 2026, the U.S. Army reported that the Multipurpose High Energy Laser system hit three drones on the country's southern border (according to U.S. military estimates, the drones may have been linked to drug cartels). An important step was that on September 2, 2026, the U.S. Army announced its first production contract for the E-HEL laser system.
The United Kingdom is also demonstrating noticeable progress in this direction. In November 2025, the UK government reported successful tests of the DragonFire laser, which struck fast-flying drones. A £316 million contract was subsequently signed for further development and delivery of the system, as reported in an official release by the UK Government in November 2025. Additionally, test results were covered in materials by the Royal Navy, and in a response from the UK Ministry of Defence to Parliament in March 2026, plans to install DragonFire on Type 45 destroyers were clarified.
Foreign experience shows that combat lasers are gradually moving from trials to the production of individual systems. However, this does not yet mean that the technology has become universal or ready for widespread use in all conditions. States have to evaluate not only the effectiveness of the systems, but also the cost of their operation, power supply requirements, maintenance, and integration into the existing defense system.
For Ukraine, the development of combat lasers is of interest not only as an opportunity to use foreign systems. It is also important to evaluate the potential of its own scientific and engineering developments, improve necessary technologies, and determine under what conditions such systems can complement existing air defense assets. This direction requires a serious technical and economic evaluation. It is necessary to consider the cost of developing and operating the systems, power supply requirements, domestic industry capabilities, and effectiveness in various weather conditions. However, the prospects of the technology deserve attention today, particularly given the need to protect cities, energy infrastructure, and civilians.
Prospects for Combat Lasers in Modern Defense
Combat lasers are gradually turning from science fiction into real military technology. They will not replace all existing air defense assets, but they can complement them and make the fight against some drones more economically viable. For people around the world, the importance of this technology is primarily associated with finding more effective ways to protect against aerial threats, including facilities on which power supply, hospital operations, and city safety depend.
Further development of combat lasers will depend on how successfully their reliability can be improved, operation simplified, and effective performance ensured in real conditions.
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