Ukrainian Military Commander Claims To Have Laser Capable Of Flying Planes From One Mil

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian unmanned force commander claims the country has developed a laser weapon capable of shooting down targets from a distance of more than a mile.

Speaking at a defense summit in Kyiv this week, Commander of the Ukrainian Unmanned System Armed Forces Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi said, "Today, we were able to shoot down the plane with this laser at an altitude of more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles)."

"It really works, it really does," he said, as reported by CNN from the December 18 Interfax-Ukraine news agency, adding various efforts were being made to scale up and capabilities of the weapon.

The laser is named Tryzub, or in Ukrainian it means "trisula," which refers to Ukraine's national symbol that symbolizes independence, strength and unity.

Colonel Sukharevskyi did not provide further details about the Tryzub and CNN lasers being unable to verify its claims. However, experts say Tryzub's whereabouts are "probably."

Patrick Senft of the Armament Research Services, a technical intelligence consultant specializing in weapons and ammunition research, said although little was known about the Tryzub system, "it is very possible for Ukraine to develop a functional energy-directed weapon (DEW) capable of destroying several aerial targets."

"This in particular can be achieved using commercial welding lasers available in the market combined with other available technologies," Senft said, pointing to the United States Navy's Laser Weapon System (LaWS) which has been operating at a comparable distance since 2014.

Senft explained that laser-directed energy weapons (DEWs) are very effective against low- and slow-flying drones used by Russia, as the drone consists of components that are relatively fragile and prone to heat.

Low-flying UAVs, such as the one-way attack drone Shahed-136/Geran-2 which has a low altitude and a stable flying pattern, "make it very vulnerable to sustainable laser exposure," Senft said, "because these weapons can concentrate energy at some point to destroy important components."

Senft added that the weapon has two main limitations, regarding how fast its targets are moving and how the laser loses energy further away. Meanwhile, targets that move faster or are heat-resistant (for example, artillery shells, ballistic missiles) are much more difficult to neutralize and require more sophisticated systems, he said.

Separately, Fabien Hoffmann of the Oslo Nuclear Project (ONP) said there were several technical challenges in deploying an effective laser system against drones or missiles.

"These challenges include overcoming problems related to laser beam strength and cooling systems, absorption and reflection of laser beams by the atmosphere (for example, because of clouds or rain), and a phenomenon known as thermal flooding''. Thermal booming occurs when laser beams heat the surrounding air, causing it to spread, which reduces its strength and effectiveness in damaging targets," he said.

"To assess how effective it is in the role of missile defense, we need to see how it performs in practice," added Hoffmann.

It is known that only a handful of countries have laser weapons, including the United States, China, and Israel.