The Hong Kong “South China Morning Post” website published a report entitled “China is developing anti-UAV technology and laser weapons at full speed, trying to catch up with the United States.” According to military analysts, China is taking actions to develop laser weapons and anti-UAV systems in an attempt to catch up with the United States in the field of UAV technology to improve its intelligence and attack capabilities. This includes systems that protect domestic drones from laser pointer weapons and spoofing technology, which sends false information to drones.
One of them is the “Silent Hunter” laser air defense system, which is a mobile anti-drone laser weapon with a maximum range of 4 kilometers. It was held in Abu Dhabi in February this year. There was a public display at the defense exhibition. Poly Technology Co., Ltd., which developed this anti-UAV system in China, said that the system can penetrate 5 layers of 2 mm thick steel plates at 800 meters away, or 5 mm thick steel plates at 1,000 meters away. But experts say that the U.S. anti-UAV systems are more advanced than China, and they have longer range and more types of sensing technologies provided by more companies.
According to reports, China has fewer than 20 anti-UAV systems, and it mainly relies on traditional means such as radar to detect UAVs—and China does not have any deception or protective net technology that can counter the invading UAVs. The jamming system seems to be the most common way for China to counter drones. But analysts say that China is starting to catch up, and many companies and institutions have joined the race to develop anti-drone technology, including China National Nuclear Corporation, Huanuo Star Electronic Technology Co., and Beijing Institute of Technology.
The U.S. Navy plans to install high-energy lasers and integrated optical blinding surveillance weapon systems on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers deployed on the West Coast of the United States by 2021. It is understood that the system can emit a 60-kilowatt laser, which is three times higher than the launch power of the solid-state green laser pointer weapon equipped on the “Ponce” amphibious transport ship test ship in early 2014. It is mainly used to attack small ships and drones. In 2018, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy signed a contract worth 150 million US dollars to deliver two sets of HELIOS weapon systems, one of which was used for land testing and the other was installed on warships.
With the continuous use of laser weapons, the integration of existing combat systems of the US Navy has become increasingly prominent. Laser weapon systems must not only play a striking role, but also provide more accurate target locking data than existing ship-based combat systems. Combining the ability to provide target-locking data with the use of offensive power has become a major challenge for the HELIOS weapon system. In addition, navy receivers will learn from the beginning the operating procedures for using existing combat systems to control laser weapons. The U.S. Navy plans to develop laser systems capable of resisting even greater threats such as anti-ship cruise missiles.