DIMDEX 2026: Norinco reveals more details on laser weapons, unveils new ATGM
A 1:10 model of Norinco's OW5-A50 LDEW system displayed at DIMDEX 2026. (Janes/Tom Barton)
China's Norinco sent its OW5-A50 counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) laser directed energy weapon (LDEW) to a local defence exhibition in Oman on 10 October 2025, a company business development manager told Janes at the DIMDEX 2026 defence exhibition held from 19 to 22 January.
The laser was not fired at the exhibition in Oman, the manager said, but had a firing test at the Airshow China exhibition in Zhuhai in November 2024. Oman was the only country outside China where Norinco has sent the system.
Shown pictures of a possible C-UAV system seen in Oman, of which photos emerged from a local haulage company in December 2025, the manager said it was not a Norinco system and that it looked nearly identical to China Electronics Technology Group Corporation's (CETC's) JN1199 truck-based jamming system.
The configuration of the system seen in Oman appeared similar to parts of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation's (CETC's) SkyShield, but also seemed to have different electro-optical turrets on different shelters compared with the SkyShield. The Norinco manager said it was possible that the laser systems of multiple companies were in Oman for evaluation.
The ‘50' in A50 stands for 50 kW, the manager said, likening the system to the UK's DragonFire 50 kW-class LDEW. In November 2025, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded MBDA a GBP316 million (USD414 million) contract to develop and integrate an initial production-standard DragonFire on Royal Navy (RN) warships.
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