Having recently used a high-energy laser weapon to down an unmanned aircraft at a proving ground in Switzerland, Rheinmetall has demonstrated the operational potential of combining a powerful laser weapon with an advanced air defence system.

The event provided compelling proof of the Group’s 360° competence in relevant technologies ranging from military lasers and target recognition and identification to target tracking and fire control units—and its unrivalled ability to weld them into a single, forward-looking, fully functional full scale demonstrator.

A 10-kW laser was integrated into an air defence system consisting of an Oerlikon Skyguard 3 fire control unit and a Skyshield gun turret. Modular and scalable, the laser weapon consisted of two 5-kW laser weapon modules. Besides, a 1-kW laser weapon module was specially mounted on a TM 170-type vehicle. Both laser weapon demonstrators were deployed in different scenarios: as a means of providing protection from asymmetric, terrorist-type threats; in a C-RAM context to counter the threat from incoming rockets, artillery and mortar rounds; and in an air defence scenario with an unmanned air vehicle serving as the target.