TADTE 2025: AIDC unveils new directed energy weapon for air-defence networks

AIDC displayed its new high-energy directed energy laser weapon at TADTE 2025. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has unveiled a new ‘high-energy' directed energy weapon (DEW) that the company said can be used to destroy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at ranges of more than 1,000 m.

Speaking to Janes during the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE) 2025, held in Taiwan from 18 to 20 September, Ru-Woei Hsia, AIDC's energy business director of Program Technology Implementation, said the laser weapon, which currently has an energy output of 8 kW, has a range of between 1 and 2 km.

However, according to Ru-Woei, efforts to assess the effective range of the weapon have encountered a special problem – limited space to conduct longer-range tests.

“So far, we have tested the system up to 150 m. Because Taiwan is a small island and testing the laser is dangerous, we have to find a closed-off place to conduct additional long-range tests. So, our efforts to extend the test range up to 1 km and 2 km [are] ongoing,” he said.

Systems integrator

Ru-Woei described AIDC's role in the weapon programme as being that of a systems integrator. “This is because the high-energy directed weapon uses systems from multiple companies in both Taiwan and overseas,” he said.

The system's electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) camera is proprietary AIDC technology and is used for the real-time detection of UAVs, according to Ru-Woei. However, the system's fire-control radar (FCR) is an active radar unit from US company Echodyne. The radar unit shown alongside the DEW at TADTE 2025 appeared to be Echodyne's EchoShield system.