British MOD Debuts New Air Defence Laser

RAF pilots are one step closer to being equipped with a cutting-edge laser self-protection system, following 100% successful live-fire trials.  

The laser is being designed to be fitted to a range of RAF aircraft including the intelligence gathering Shadow R2 and A400M transporter, ready to rapidly detect and defeat threats such as missiles.  

During the trial at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden, the operational system defeated a range of infrared heat-seeking missiles being fired simultaneously. 

100% of threats were quickly defeated using a laser with pinpoint accuracy, which has been designed and developed by the Team Pellonia partnership between Leonardo UK, Thales UK, and the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

Defence Secretary, John Healey said:  

“Identifying, tracking and defeating threats from the air in seconds is crucial to having the edge over those who try to do us harm.”

“We’re equipping our Armed Forces with the very latest technology to keep them safe and give them the advantage on operations.”

“This high-tech laser is another excellent example of joint working between our Dstl experts and the UK’s defence industry.”

The system works by Thales’s Elix-IR threat warning system quickly detecting and identifying the launch of missiles, using a series of algorithms to filter out background clutter so that only valid threats are tracked, classified and declared.  

Once the threat(s) has been classified, an alert is sent to the Leonardo’s Miysis directed infrared countermeasure which moves to track the incoming missile and directs a jamming laser onto the missile with ultimate precision. 

Threats are defeated faster than the time it takes to read this sentence. This UK engineered capability gives the MOD the latest generation best-in-class protection, whilst enjoying full operational independence, and offering the same freedoms to export customers. 

The live tests were witnessed by senior military officers from a number of NATO nations.  

To read more, please visit the MOD's website.