Power Arcade: Directed-energy military weapons

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Türkiye showcased the ALKA-KAPLAN, the world’s first hybrid combat vehicle possessing a high-energy laser weapon system to track and intercept drones, at the defence industry fair IDEF in mid-2025. Produced jointly by the Turkish firms FNSS and Roketsan, the platform boasts of cameras, mission kits, and image-aided navigation.  

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The United States (US) Army received the first two LOCUST mobile counter-drone laser weapon systems from the defence company AeroVironment in August 2025. LOCUST has a 20 kilowatt (kW)-class high-energy laser integrated on an infantry squad vehicle.  

Japan sent its 100 kW-class directed energy laser weapon to sea for its maiden real-world testing in December 2025. The weapon combines 10 homegrown 10 kW-fiber-laser systems into a single beam, capable of intercepting metal and drone airframes.  

Images on Chinese social media in late 2025 featured China’s LY-1 directed-energy laser system mounted on the deck of a civilian cargo ship. The tests showcased the laser weapon, developed to combat low-signature aerial targets, in a real maritime environment.  

Australian technology firm Electro Optic Systems received an order worth $83 million in August 2025 for Apollo, a new 100 kW high-energy laser weapon to jam the sensors of drones, from a European North Atlantic Treaty Organization member country to boost its multilayered air defence system.  

The US Air Force partnered with the country’s defence firm Parsons Corporation last year to upgrade its Joint light tactical vehicle with the Zeus 4 directed energy bomb disposal system. Zeus 4 uses high-energy lasers to neutralise unexploded ordnance, and has an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven targeting sensor.  

The US counter-drone firm Epirus introduced Leonidas H2O, a high-power microwave system capable of destroying drone swarms, manned and unmanned boat motors, and diverse threats across long ranges, last year. In October 2025, Leonidas H2O was integrated with a robotic ground vehicle to become a fully autonomous counter-drone platform.  

Israel's “Iron Beam” high-energy laser defence system is slated for delivery to the Israel Defense Forces for maiden deployment by the end of last year. Termed as the first combat-ready laser globally, it will bolster the country’s air defence.  

Defence firms Rheinmetall and MBDA transferred a high-energy laser weapon for the German Navy to the Laser Competence Centre in Meppen in December 2025 for future trials. The maritime laser will support counter-operations against non-cooperative threats.  

The US Army tested the Directed Energy Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense system, built by the US defence firm Raytheon, in exercises throughout 2025. Integrated with a 50 kW-class high-energy laser weapon, the system has advanced beam control and sensors.  

The US Navy granted the US-based firm Coherent a $29.9 million contract to build a 400 kW high-energy laser system, regarded as one of the world’s most powerful shipboard laser weapons, last year. The system can intercept drone swarms, missiles, and aerial targets.  

The UK tested the radiofrequency directed-energy weapon, nicknamed “RapidDestroyer”, against drone swarms by mounting it on an HX60 truck in 2025. The platform, slated to be potentially deployed this year, can combat threats across land, air, and sea by leveraging radio waves.