China Builds Anti-Drone Laser Tech
People’s Republic of China has developed an anti-drone laser technology that can apparently shoot down a low flying drone within a two kilometer radius.
The communication came through the official Xinhua news agency which reports that the technology has been co-developed by the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), with the claim being that small-scale drones can be shot down within five seconds of the system locking on.
The reason for using laser as an anti-drone tech is to increase the accuracy with which drones can be blasted out of the sky — vs other less precision methods such as using a sniper or intercepting by helicopter.
A test of the technology with more than 30 drones apparently resulted in a 100 per cent success rate.
The system will be installed or transported in vehicles, and used to bolster security during “major events in urban areas”, according to a CAEP statement.
There’s no quantification of how small-scale the drones have to be to be terminated by laser, but the CAEP statement specifies they must be within an altitude of 500 meters and flying at a speed below 50m/s. Lasers with greater power and range are also apparently being developed by the Academy.
The U.S. military has been testing an anti-drone laser which is being developed by Boeing, although this High Energy Laser is primarily intended to shoot down rockets, artillery and mortar rounds, rather than drones.
Source: Tech Crunch
