Military & Aerospace

Laser Weapons: The Future of Air Defence?
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Issue Net Edition | Date : 10 Jun , 2022

Iron Beam Laser Weapon System

Israel recently announced the successful test of its Iron Beam laser weapon system that reportedly has the capability of intercepting rockets, mortars and anti-tank missiles. Called a game changer, it is claimed to be the world’s first energy-based missile defence system that employs a laser beam to strike down incoming attacks. It was unveiled at the Singapore Airshow on February 11, 2014 by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with the final field tests taking place in May 2022.

Iron Beam is likely to be fielded by 2023 and will form part of Israel’s multi-layered air defence system that presently comprises of the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow systems. Even as the Iron Beam awaits full operationalisation, Russia announced that it has already deployed Zadira, an advanced laser weapons system in combat in Ukraine. In a conference aired on the state media Channel One, Yury Borisov, Russia’s deputy prime minister, said the country’s state-of-the-art laser weapon, called “Zadira,” was being used to shoot down Ukrainian drones.

Zadira laser weapon system

Zadira is the second Russian laser weapon system, the first being Peresvet which can be used to dazzle satellites orbiting high above Earth and prevent them from gathering information. Yury Borisov claimed that “if Peresvet blinds, then the new generation of laser weapons lead to the physical destruction of the target – thermal destruction, they burn up.” Reacting to these claims the US Department of Defense issued a statement that there was  no evidence “to corroborate reports of lasers being used” in Ukraine.

Lasers are silent and invisible to the human eye and are thus hard to detect by the enemy…

While the war of words may continue over the capabilities and fielding of Zadira there is no doubt that there is an urgent need to operationalise laser air defence weapons at the earliest to counter the emergent air threats in a more efficient manner. The need to develop laser AD systems becomes apparent when the limitations of existing AD systems are considered.

Limitations of existing AD systems

The AD weapon systems have evolved over time and are capable of taking on most of the air threats but these systems have certain inherent limitations which makes them either not capable of countering some of the threats or the engagements are not cost effective. These limitation are more obvious in case of countering the threats at the two extremes- the high speed targets (missiles and hypersonics) at one end and low-cost aerial threats like drones on the other extreme.

The limitations of majority of AD systems in countering missiles and hypersonics due to the high speed (multi-Mach speeds) and very low reaction time are well documented. The use of Scud missiles by Iraq during the Gulf War was one such example when the Patriot missile system failed to effectively counter them. Though these failures were initially covered up by the United States, the details are well documented and details that emerged in post-war analysis seriously undervalued the Patriot’s performance. United States Army admitted that a “re-evaluation” found that Patriot systems destroyed, damaged, or knocked off course more than seventy percent of the Scuds that came within range in Saudi Arabia and more than forty percent of those that came within range in Israel.

But the details of engagement-by-engagement account of the Patriot’s performance were never made public making the US Army’s claims questionable.

The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), popularly referred to as the Star Wars programme, relied on DEW for the anti-missile defences…

An article in US Air Force Magazine revealed that 158 Patriots were fired at a cost of $640,000 each, including one misfire at an allied aircraft returning to Incirlik AB, Turkey during the course of the war. These 158 missiles attacked fifty-one incoming Scuds, missed one, and failed to fire against the Scud that destroyed the US barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. About fifty-five percent of the Patriots were fired at Scud warheads, thirty percent at “Scud debris,” and fifteen percent at “false targets.”

A successful engagement by patriot should have been if the Patriot destroyed or damaged the warhead, caused a partial burn of warhead, or knocked the Scud body off course but these parameters were tweaked by the US Army and it declared patriot to be a success even if it destroyed or damaged the warhead, caused a partial burn of warhead, or knocked the Scud body off course. A similar failure was experienced in Saudi Arabia when the patriots failed to counter the missiles fired by the Houthi rebels. Though the analysis of Patriot’s performance deserves a more detailed study, this has been mentioned only to highlight the limitations of the AD systems in engaging ballistic missiles. 

Iron Dome

Patriot is not the only system with such limitations. Taking the case of Iron Dome, the frontline Israeli AD system. It is one of the most advanced AD systems in service today and is regularly used to counter the frequent rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. According to claims made by the Israeli defence officials, Iron Dome has a 90% hit success rate and during Operation Pillar of Defence in 2012 the system was credited with hitting 84% of incoming projectiles.

However, these figures of 90 % success rate are not supported by any public evidence. Also, Iron Dome has proved itself to be ineffective shorter-range rockets and mortar attacks launched from nearby Gaza, which resulted in Israel looking at alternate defenses to augment the system.

In a similar manner, at least 23 Pantsir systems were destroyed by Turkish Bayraktar and Anka drones in Syria and Libya in 2020 alone, despite the fact the systems were expressly designed to counter these low and slow flying threats. In the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Ukrainian drones remain effective despite the presence of strong Russian electronic warfare capabilities and air defence systems, with an older Buk M1 launcher destroyed by a Ukrainian Bayraktar drone.

Lasers have their downside too as they take a lot of energy and have difficulty penetrating haze, dust, smoke and materials with anti-laser coatings.

As the cost factor is also an important consideration in evaluating the efficacy of a system, most modern AD systems are not suitable for use in countering low-end threats like drones and improvised aerial platforms (including improvised missiles and rockets). A drone bought off the shelf improvised to carry explosives would cost only a couple hundred dollars and it makes no (economic)n sense in expending a high-tech AD missile costing tens of thousand dollars to shoot it down. And if the drones and rockets are fired in tens and hundreds over weeks, there is a need for more efficient AD systems to counter them.

To illustrate, during the Hamas-Israel flare up in 2021, the Hamas launched over 4,300 unguided rockets and mortars toward Israel. Israel claimed a 90% success rate in intercepting them wherein each interception by Iron Dome costs approximately $100,000-$150,000.

AD guns are an option and the Close-In Weapons Systems (CIWS) like the Gatling based Phalanx are one of the gun systems is service but they also suffer from inherent limitations in terms of target handling capability and maximum effective range ( it is only about 1.4 Km). The ammunition expenditure is another factor needing consideration as a ‘mount’ or a gun can carry only a specific amount of ammunition and that restricts the number of engagements the gun can carry out before it needs to be re-armed.

This may seem of minor consequence but during operations it is an important factor and non-availability of ammunition can often lead to deadly consequences as it happened with a state-of-the-art Pantsir 1M system in Syria when it was knocked out by an Israeli drone as it was waiting to be re-loaded, having expended all its ammunition.

Why lasers?

One of the methods to address the challenges of engaging and shooting down aerial targets in a cost-effective manner, in an effective way is by using  Directed Energy Weapons (DEW), including the lasers which are now maturing as a viable alternate to traditional AD systems.

A laser beam can also be scaled to the object in question and The power of the beam can be adjusted for different material. Accordingly, it can even have  even a non-lethal adjustment if required.

Laser is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow. It differs from ordinary light as it is monochromatic coherent and directional. It contains one specific wavelength of light (one specific colour). The wavelength of light is determined by the amount of energy released when the electron drops to a lower orbit. It is “organized” — each photon moves in step with the others. This means that all of the photons have wave fronts that launch in unison. And being highly directional, it has a very tight beam and is very strong and concentrated. These characteristics make laser suitable for use as AD weapons with the capability of “shooting down bullets with bullets”, something that all AD systems aim to do.

Advantages of Laser Weapons. Laser weapons have several advantages over conventional munitions. These are:

•  They transmit lethal force at the speed of light (about 300,000 kilometres per second) that gives them the capability to engage distant high speed targets immediately after detection with very short reaction time,

•  A laser has a near-perfectly straight trajectory, unlike the arc of an artillery round,  as their beams are not affected by the constraining effects of gravity or atmospheric drag which allows the laser to be much more accurate in finding its target,

•  They are extremely precise enabling low-profile and covert operations capabilities the with less collateral damage,

•  Their effects can be tailored by varying the type and intensity of energy delivered against targets,

•  Lasers are silent and invisible to the human eye and are thus hard to detect by the enemy,

•  A laser beam can also be scaled to the object in question and The power of the beam can be adjusted for different material. Accordingly, it can even have  even a non-lethal adjustment if required,

•  Though the Initial installation costs are high but after deployment, laser weapons provide cost-effective engagements. and

•  Unlike a traditional gun, lasers don’t run out of bullets.

Disadvantages. Lasers have their downside too as they take a lot of energy and have difficulty penetrating haze, dust, smoke and materials with anti-laser coatings.

The drawbacks notwithstanding, lasers have the potential to be a low-cost, effective complement to kinetic energy and have the potential to be more effective at addressing rocket, artillery, mortar, or RAM threats, as well as unmanned aircraft systems and cruise missiles.

Early Efforts

One of the early efforts was Project Excalibur that was a cold war era research program to develop an X-ray laser system  to be used as a  (BMD) for the United States. The concept involved packing large numbers of expendable X-ray lasers around a nuclear device, which would orbit in space. During an attack, the device would be detonated, with the X-rays released focused by each laser to destroy multiple incoming target missiles.

The  Boeing program met with some resistance due to problems in making a compact system  as the test version was mounted in a truck the size of a shipping crate and was not found suitable for operational use.

The Soviets developed the first handheld laser weapon, intended for use by cosmonauts in outer space, 17F19DM Polyus/Skif-DM  a laser-armed orbital weapon and the  1K17 Szhatie but they never went beyond  the experimental stage. The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), popularly referred to as the Star Wars programme, relied on DEW for the anti-missile defences but the cost and technological challenges did not allow the program to come to fruition.

Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) was a weaponized laser developed in a joint project by Israel and the U.S.,  designed to shoot down aircraft and missiles but was discontinued in 2005 as a result of its bulkiness, high costs and poor anticipated results on the battlefield. Similar projects were undertaken by Boeing and Lockheed Martin as they developed High Energy Laser-Mobile Demonstrator (HEL-MD) and a  60 kW fibre laser respectively. The former had the peak-power level as 10 kW but after initial tests the programme seems to have been given up. The  Boeing program met with some resistance due to problems in making a compact system  as the test version was mounted in a truck the size of a shipping crate and was not found suitable for operational use.

Stryker Laser Weapon System

In May 2022, Raytheon announced that its laser weapon mounted on an armoured vehicle that shot down multiple mortar rounds over four weeks of tests. The tests were part of an Army program to develop new kinds of defences against flying projectiles and other threats and it also involved using a  laser system to defeat a range of drones.

Raytheon in collaboration with defence contractor KBR’s subsidiary Kordhad integrated an 50 kilowatt-class high-energy lase ron a Stryker combat vehicle. Strykers are eight-wheeled armoured transports, operated by a crew of two and with room for 9 troops to ride inside. The vehicle has been adapted  for a variety of roles, including as the base platform for an array of already existing anti-air weapons in what is called “Manoeuvre-Short Range Air Defence,” or M-SHORAD.

The existing version features a turret that can launch Stinger anti-air missiles and Hellfire missiles, in addition to a 30-mm cannon and a regular machine gun, as well as sensors to help find targets. Four laser-armed Strykers are planned to be supplied to US Army units later this year.

Russia has claimed to have destroyed at least one Ukrainian drone using Zadira during the ongoing conflict.

Iron Beam

Iron Beam is an Israeli system that made its debut in 2014, it is designed to destroy short-range rockets, artillery and other mortars that are too small for the Iron Dome to intercept effectively, thereby providing  an additional layer to Israel’s air defence layout.  The Iron Beam  uses a “directed high energy laser beam” to take out hostile targets with ranges up to 7 Km. It is planned to be upgraded to 100 kilowatts allowing the system to detect drones up to a maximum range of 20 Km.

While the Iron Beam will supplement Israel’s layered air defence system, it can also function as a stand-alone system. A major plus for the system is the low cost of each  interception i.e. only mere $2 per interception. This will also allow a large number of iron Beam systems to be deployed to take on barrage of hostile air attacks. 

Zadira

The ‘secret’ Russian new generation of powerful laser weapon deployed in Ukraine is claimed to have the capability to silently burn drone targets in the sky “within five seconds.” Though not much details are known about Zadira, it is reportedly mounted on an armoured truck and is one of the two laser weapons developed by Russian Federal Nuclear Center for research and development at Sarov, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Peresvet being the other system. According to claims made by Russia, the main difference between the two is that Peresvet “blinds” an enemy system, whereas Zadira destroys it. As per news reports, Russia has claimed to have destroyed at least one Ukrainian drone using Zadira during the ongoing conflict.

DRDO was in the process of developing and improving various laser-generation techniques using solid state, fibre and chemical lasers for defensive and offensive use…

Indian Laser Weapon Systems

With little details available, as usual, about India’s efforts in developing an indigenous laser weapon system, it is difficult to correctly assess India’s capabilities in this regard. One of the first reports in open media was an article by (then) Wing Commander K.K. Nair in the USI Journal Vol. CXXXVIII, Jan-mar 2008 wherein he mentioned that “Fantastic military space weaponry like Kinetic Attack Loitering Interceptor (KALI), Directionally Unrestricted Ray-Gun Array (DURGA) etc were envisaged with photo laser weapon testing to be completed by 2005.”

Defense News, an online defence journal, noted in 2021 that project DURGA II of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) aimed at providing the Indian Army with 100-kilowatt, lightweight directed-energy system though the DURGA II program was still in the concept stage. It added that DRDO was  in the process of developing and improving various laser-generation techniques using solid state, fibre and chemical lasers for defensive and offensive use. DURGA II will be integrated with land-, sea- and air-based platforms.

According to reports DRDO tested a 1KW laser weapon mounted on a truck at a test facility in Chitradurga in 2017. The Economic Times reported the laser hit a target 250m away during a test that was conducted in the presence of then defence minister Arun Jaitley. As per later reports, DRDO has so far made a 25 KW laser weapon that can target a ballistic missile during its terminal phase at a max distance of 5Km.The beam from laser source is coupled to the beam delivery system.

The focusing telescope is mounted on a gimbal which is agile enough to keep the beam focused on the same spot and works in closed loop with video tracking system. The system has been realised, integrated, and tested. While laser power of the order of 100 kW has been achieved, damage potential of the laser has been tested up to 800 m distance.

Specific to AD and Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) needs, the systems under development include AD dazzlers to take on enemy aircraft and helicopters at range of 10 km, 25-kilowatt laser systems to destroy missiles during their terminal phase at range of 5 to 7 km and 100-kilowatt solid-state laser systems, mounted on aircraft and ships, to destroy missiles in their boost phase itself .

Most of the systems, like Iron Beam, Stryker  and Zadira, are short range systems capable of engaging small targets only.

Assessing Suitability of Laser weapons in AD Role

Laser weapons are often touted as wonder weapons but the laser based weapon systems have drawbacks that restrict their suitability and use for AD.

The efficacy of a laser system depends on its power that allows it to burn through the given target. The greater the power of the beam, the faster it can burn through a given drone, or mortar round, or other object and more effective it becomes. The main challenge is getting enough power to produce a laser strong enough to burn through the target in the desired time frame. For this, fitting more power into a smaller, constrained shell is essential for creating a more useful laser. This is one of the prime challenges in creating an effective, and useful, laser system that can be used in the field.

Most of the systems, like Iron Beam, Stryker  and Zadira, are short range systems capable of engaging small targets only. The conventional aerial targets like aircraft are beyond the capability of these systems and this drawback seriously undermines the suitability of existing laser weapons for use in AD. The reasons for the same are elaborated below.

For long range detection and engagement, a laser weapon would need to precisely track targets from tens, if not hundreds, of kilometres away. One method to do so is to use passive tracking at longer ranges to detect the target, then switching to active tracking when the target is closer. The laser trackers have demonstrated anything close to an extended-range laser range-finding capability. Cloud cover, rain, or smoke can also prevent signal detection, which is why laser rangefinders fell out of favour in the 1980s.Moreover, many basic countermeasures can exploit the fragility of these kinds of sensors.

To disarm a laser rangefinder, an adversary could simply coat the surface of its missile in reflective or absorbent material, or just as easily deploy dust or shrapnel to disrupt the electro-optical sensors on a system like AN/DAS-4, the most advanced laser tracker used in prototype weapons.

Even for a manoeuvring aircraft, the laser may not be able to ‘hold’ the beam at one point long enough to achieve the desired effect.

Another major problem with laser technology is jitter—”the degree to which the spot of laser light jumps around on the surface of the target due to vibration or other movement.” To be effective, a laser must bore into a single spot for several seconds until the target is destroyed. Several systems, including Position Sensing Devices (PSD), Fibre Optic Gyros (FOG), Fast Steering Mirrors (FSM), and various filters can significantly reduce jitter, but only to the micron level that may not be enough to take on an aircraft or a ballistic missile.

This becomes more challenging if the adversaries exploits a laser’s reliance on one target point by designing their missiles to roll in flight, ensuring the laser does not have a static target. Even for a manoeuvring aircraft, the laser may not be able to ‘hold’ the beam at one point long enough to achieve the desired effect.

Atmospheric distortions caused by water vapor, sand, dust, salt, and pollution can all absorb or refract a laser’s energy, and thermal blooming is of particular concern in high-power laser weapons. These factor restrict the power borne on to the target.

Tactical considerations. Even if every technological barrier is successfully conquered, it is not certain if the laser weapons would be an effective form of air and missile defence. This is because lasers, unlike kinetic interceptors, face limitations that are tactically insurmountable no matter how advanced technology becomes:

•  Lasers can only focus on one target at a time. An adversary could simply launch a salvo attack to over-saturate laser defences,

•  Laser weapons can only destroy targets in their line of sight. This means most systems would be unable to target low-flying cruise missiles. Moreover, line-of-sight systems are restricted by the curvature of the earth and risk letting targets get away over the horizon—a limitation not faced by heat-seeking kinetic interceptors.

•  a laser can only stop a missile if it generates enough energy to cut into its electronics package. By adding a harder, thicker layer of outside shielding, adversaries can strengthen a missile’s “skin” and prevent it from being disabled,

Despite the many pitfalls of laser  weapons, it is unlikely that the chase for laser AD weapons will be given up.

•  The other challenge is developing a deployable system that can operate with field formations and units in tactical scenarios. Operating at static, rear areas may  be possible for a large, bulky system but for use in tactical battle area, the system needs to be highly mobile, survivable and powerful enough to different category of targets.

Despite the many pitfalls of laser  weapons, it is unlikely that the chase for laser AD weapons will be given up. The short range AD system are likely to be fielded in near future to counter rocket, artillery, mortar, or RAM threats, as well as unmanned aircraft systems but developing a truly capable laser based AD system will take years of effort and of that only one thing is certain: the road ahead will be difficult and costly.

Conclusion

For years the YAL-1 Airborne Laser was parked at US Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. The system was meant to fly above hostile territory to track and destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles in flight. But after 16 years and $5 billion, the program was cancelled simply because it did not work. The skeletal aircraft at Tucson had become a sad reminder of the futility of laser-based missile defence.

In 2014 it was unceremoniously destroyed as if the act would erase the memory of its failure. Eight years later, laser-based air and missile defences are back in vogue. Only time will tell how far the programmes go before they are operationalised or erased from memory as failures.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Col Mandeep Singh

An Air Defence Gunner, commanded the Regiment during Operation Parakaram and later along the LAC.

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