British Army fires Raytheon UK's High-Energy Laser Weapon System for first time

The British Army fired Raytheon's HELWS from a Foxhound armoured vehicle for the first time at the Radnor Range in Wales in early October. (Crown Copyright)

The British Army has fired Raytheon UK's High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) for the first time at the Radnor Range in Wales, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), its Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) organisation, and Raytheon UK announced in separate press releases on 11 December.

The trial was conducted under the UK MoD's Land Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) demonstrator programme, with British soldiers from the 16th Regiment Royal Artillery mounted in a Wolfhound 6×6 armoured vehicle training and operating HELWS to track and neutralise moving aerial targets.

Drone destroyer

A Raytheon spokesperson told Janes on 11 December that the targets in the trial held in early October were Class 1 quadcopter mini unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) “moving and engaged at militarily representative ranges” of over 1 km. A Defence and Science Laboratory (Dstl) spokesperson told Janes the next day that dozens of drones were defeated during the trial within the constraints of the Radnor Range. No swarms were involved and HELWS was operated at 15 kW, according to the spokespeople.

Warrant Officer Matt Anderson, trials manager for the British Army Mounted Close Combat Trials and Development Group, said, “Every engagement we've done has removed a drone from the sky. While we've been testing a variety of distances, speeds, and altitudes, one thing has remained – how quick a drone can be taken out. It's definitely a capability that could be added to the arsenal of weapons we use on the battlefield.”

A DE&S photo showed a destroyed quadcopter drone with a melted body, including its sensors.

Capability demonstrator