German Navy Deploys a High-energy Laser Weapon to Combat Drones For the First Time

For the first time ever, the German Armed Forces deployed a shipboard laser weapon designed to combat drones.

The German frigate Sachsen successfully engaged drones at close and extremely close range on August 30, 2022, in the Baltic Sea close to Putlos Major Training Area, according to a press release.

High-energy Laser Weapon Systems

The laser weapon demonstrator was created by the High-Energy Laser Naval Demonstrator working group ("ARGE"), which was composed of MBDA Deutschland GmbH and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH.

Future Navy high-energy laser (HEL) weapon systems will be particularly helpful in fending off drones and drone swarms as well as engaging in close-quarters combat with speedboats.

Rheinmetall noted that the system can also be built to provide more power, enabling it to shoot down mortar shells and guided missiles.

Both Dr. Markus Jung, in charge of laser weapon development at Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH, and Daniel Gruber, project manager for the naval demonstration at MBDA Deutschland, were on site to watch the test campaign with the frigate.

They came to a successful conclusion after looking back on the integration and test phase of the weapon.

"Solid teamwork between the two ARGE partners played a key role in helping us integrate a fully functional, high-performance demonstrator onboard the frigate", Gruber said in a statement.

"Close cooperation with the command team of the Sachsen enabled direct communication with the future user. This way, ideas from the Navy could be directly incorporated or implemented during subsequent development."

Dr. Thomas Baumgärtel, project manager for the naval demonstration at Rheinmetall Waffe und Munition GmbH, was also pleased with the test's result.

The demonstrator's main parts, according to him, are "truly high tech". Long years of research at both of the participating companies led to this success. Numerous system components of the demonstration were created especially for the project and were assembled in this form for the first time, according to Baumgärtel.

Testing Until 2023

However, the high-energy laser weapon does not stop there as its testing will continue until mid-2023. The succeeding test campaigns will include new scenarios to evaluate the demonstrator's capabilities.

Additionally, the outcomes will reveal what needs to be accomplished to develop a fully functional, operational laser weapon.

The ARGE integration team completed the naval demonstrator's joint integration and test phase with a successful factory acceptance test at Rheinmetall's Unterlüß proving site in November 2021. After that, the demonstration was mounted on the frigate Sachsen in Kiel.

The first test campaign was conducted at Eckernförde Bay in July 2022, not far from the Technical Centre for Ships and Naval Weapons, Marine Technology and Research, WTD 71, in Surendorf, operated by the Bundeswehr.

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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla