The skies above Ukraine have seen relentless drone attacks for years, with swarms even spilling into Poland recently. This escalating threat has triggered an urgent response from NATO militaries across Europe, compelling them to significantly upgrade their air defense capabilities. Their impending solution? Lasers.
For decades, scientists have pursued the ambitious goal of transforming directed energy beams into potent weapon systems. The aim has always been to create defenses that are not only more affordable but also more efficient than traditional missiles or rockets. Today, a growing number of countries are actively developing or already deploying their own laser-based air defense systems. Notably, both Israel and Ukraine have already utilized these powerful tools in combat.
In a significant development for the global weapons market, a European NATO member is now acquiring an advanced air defense laser from an Australian firm. Industry experts suggest this system represents one of the most powerful direct energy weapons ever sold, indicating a wider adoption of laser technology as a crucial component of future warfare.
Manufactured by Electro Optic Systems, the Australian laser, aptly nicknamed “Apollo” (after the Greek god of light), boasts an impressive capability: it can shoot down up to 20 drones per minute at an astonishingly low cost of less than 10 cents per shot. Its power output is comparable to Israel’s highly anticipated “Iron Beam” air defense laser, currently under development for its own military.
Andreas Schwer, CEO of Electro Optic Systems, recently emphasized the urgency driving this shift. “The Ukrainian war and the Gaza war were key trigger events that everybody thought, ‘It’s the time now to make this operational. We should not spend any more years in doing demonstrations, tests and prototyping,’” he stated. “We have some clients which are so much under actual threat that they say, ‘Listen, we can’t wait — we need something tomorrow.’” While he refrained from naming the specific NATO nation, the message is clear.
The demand for enhanced air defenses has been steadily rising, particularly in the Middle East, East Asia, and the United States, where groups like Houthi fighters in Yemen have long employed inexpensive drones and cruise missiles against targets in Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The sophisticated drone attacks witnessed in Ukraine have served as a stark warning to other European nations, highlighting their vulnerability if they fail to bolster their defenses swiftly. Just days before Russian drones breached Polish airspace, Moscow unleashed its largest aerial assault of the war, sending over 800 exploding drones and decoys across Ukraine.
Sidharth Kaushal, a military research expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, noted, “For Europe, the salience, and importance, of this kind of capability has been reinforced by what’s happened in Ukraine.”
Investigations into the wreckage of drones that entered Polish airspace last week revealed them to be cheap, rudimentary aircraft, often made of plywood and Styrofoam, and commonly referred to as “Gerbera.” The fact that these low-cost devices bypassed multi-million dollar Western interceptors underscored Europe’s critical vulnerability: a deficit of effective and affordable air defenses against a relentless wave of inexpensive, yet potentially lethal, drones.
Ukraine’s most advanced air defense, the American-made Patriot system, carries a price tag exceeding $1 billion and can take years to produce, limiting its global availability. Each interceptor missile costs millions, making it impractical for engaging swarms of low-flying, cheap drones, as it’s primarily designed for high-altitude threats.
In contrast, the new Australian 100-kilowatt laser system is priced at approximately $83 million, which includes training and spare parts. It is slated for delivery by 2028.
While low-tech defenses like nets, rifles, and protective cages, as employed by Ukraine and Russia, are significantly cheaper, they lack the versatility and speed required to effectively counter fast-moving, armed drone swarms.
However, laser technology isn’t without its challenges. Some European defense officials remain hesitant due to limitations imposed by weather conditions. Rain, fog, and high humidity can compromise a laser’s precision, hindering its ability to hit targets. Furthermore, most current laser weapons have a limited range of only a few kilometers and insufficient power to neutralize ballistic missiles.
Despite these drawbacks, the widespread adoption of high-energy laser weapons in military operations may be imminent. David C. Stoudt, executive director of the Directed Energy Professional Society, described the procurement of an air defense laser by a NATO country from an international producer as a “significant advancement,” indicating a broader trend towards military integration.
“That is the big trend — to get higher-power lasers into platforms, to get into an operational environment as quickly as possible,” Stoudt explained. He believes that given their minimal cost per shot and virtually unlimited ammunition, laser weapons are rapidly becoming “almost the only game in town.”
Laser technology, initially developed in the United States in 1960, saw the Pentagon begin weaponized testing within a decade. These systems function by using electricity to generate light particles that heat a target until it melts, ignites, or burns.
Early efforts had mixed results. The Air Force’s “Airborne Laser program,” designed to intercept ballistic missiles from a Boeing 747, proved expensive and yielded unimpressive outcomes, eventually being retired in 2011. However, other applications have found success, such as the 30-kilowatt laser utilized by the US Navy for air defense in the Persian Gulf back in 2014.
Currently, more powerful lasers are undergoing testing and deployment across the U.S. military, with plans to develop a one-megawatt weapon by next year. Such power levels could potentially intercept ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons, whereas the 100-kilowatt laser is primarily suited for drones, artillery, and mortars. The Pentagon allocates approximately $1 billion annually to laser weapon development.
Both the United States and Israel maintain strict controls over their high-energy laser technology, restricting sales on the global market to prevent adversaries from acquiring and exploiting these sensitive systems. Other nations developing similar lasers appear to follow this cautious approach.
Yuval Steinitz, chairman of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, is actively seeking approval from Israel’s defense ministry to export his company’s laser weapons to allied nations. His company’s “Iron Beam” system is expected to be integrated into the Israeli military within months. Smaller versions, already demonstrated in shooting down Hezbollah drones from Lebanon, are currently showcased at defense exhibitions.
Steinitz, who has suggested renaming the Iron Beam to “Laser Dome,” envisions it as an additional protective layer for Israel’s air defense, complementing the existing Iron Dome system that has successfully intercepted nearly 40,000 rockets and missiles in the last two years. He predicts that in the coming decades, this technology will herald “a total revolution in the history of warfare,” marking “just the beginning of the beginning.”
This revolution may be particularly critical for Europe, where Russia’s ongoing conflict is challenging NATO’s defensive posture, especially as former President Trump indicates a potential reduction in American defense support. Schwer of Electro Optic Systems noted, “It is very obvious that all the European governments are in quite a panic mode, because Trump has declared, ‘You have to take care for yourself.’ So the Europeans are looking for their own solutions.”