A European hub for high-energy laser weaponry is to be based in Livingston, Scotland, a big defense firm has said. Raytheon UK said the “advanced laser integration centre” would open next year and would help meet growing demand for laser weapons designed to destroy small attack drones.
The firm said the war in Ukraine had highlighted the threat they posed.
The centre will focus on the testing, fielding and maintenance of defensive high-energy laser (HEL) weapons. Raytheon’s anti-drone lasers are small enough to be fitted to military vehicles.
Last year, Raytheon was awarded a demonstrator contract to provide a high-energy laser weapon system to the UK Ministry of Defence, to be installed on the UK Wolfhound land vehicle, the company said.
It claims that “demand is spiking for cost-effective lasers” able to defeat “asymmetric” threats from drones, rockets and mortars.
Speaking from the Farnborough Airshow, Annabel Flores, Raytheon’s president of electronic warfare systems, told the BBC some of the additional interest and demand for the technology was as a result of how drones had been used in the conflict.
Source: BBC.com
