The weapon looks like something out of a science fiction movie. Its ammunition is not a projectile, but a beam of light; no need to reload after each shot and Its operator can control it with something reminiscent of an Xbox console controller. But it’s not science fiction anymore. The United States is employing laser weapons systems in the Strait of Hormuz to confront drones and other aerial threats, according to information attributed to the US War Department, as the Army accelerates the transition of these weapons from prototypes to production.
The detail of the control is striking, but it has a quite practical explanation. High-energy laser systems need to aim with extreme precision and keep the beam on a specific area of the target for long enough to damage it. A controller with joysticks, triggers and buttons allows you to control the movements of the platform and the beam director through a familiar and relatively simple interface. It’s not exactly a commercial Xbox controller connected to a laser: these are military controllers that adopt a layout and ergonomics similar to those of the gamepads.
In fact, the US Navy had already demonstrated the advantages of this philosophy more than a decade ago. In 2014 he tested aboard the USS Poncein the Persian Gulf, the Laser Weapon System, known as LaWS. The system destroyed a drone and other targets and was controlled by a video game-like interface. The Navy then highlighted that the weapon could go from non-lethal functions, such as dazzling sensors, to physically destroying a target.
Today’s technology is much more sophisticated. A high-energy laser converts electricity from generators or batteries into an extremely focused beam. The sensors detect and track the target and the system directs the energy to a specific point. Unlike a missile, There is no projectile that travels to the target: as long as there is energy available and conditions allow the beam to be maintained, the weapon can continue attacking.
One of the best-known American systems is HELIOS, an acronym for High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical Blinder and Surveillance Capability. Installed on Arleigh Burke class ships, it is a system of about 60 kilowatts that combines a high-energy laser with surveillance capabilities and attack against optical sensors. But the weapon that appears associated with the Xbox-type controller in recent demonstrations is especially interesting. AeroVironment develops LOCUSTa laser system of about 20 kilowatts designed to destroy drones. One demonstration showed an operator using an Xbox-style controller to control the system. According to the company, the system also incorporates acquisition, tracking and pointing software assisted by artificial intelligence, so that the operator does not have to manually perform each beam movement.
The objective is to solve one of the great problems of modern war: the economic imbalance between the attacker and those who try to defend themselves. A relatively cheap drone can force the defender to launch an interceptor missile that costs hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. A laser, on the other hand, does not consume a projectile for each target. Once installed, each shot primarily uses electricity and cooling capacity.
“Now it makes sense to get them out of the lab and into real-world environments. – explains Jared Keller, experts in laser weapons, in an interview -. The most significant advance is the Army’s award of a half-billion-dollar contract to manufacture combat-ready lasers, which focus photons on a target to cause destructive and catastrophic effects.”
But a laser is not a miracle weapon either. It requires a relatively clear line of sight and its performance may degrade in rain, fog, dust, smoke, or atmospheric turbulence. Besides, Destroying a target requires maintaining enough energy on a point for a given time. And facing numerous drones simultaneously remains a particularly complex problem.
That is why the video game controller is perhaps the least futuristic part of the entire system. What is truly new is behind it: sensors capable of detecting a threat, algorithms that can follow it and an invisible beam that concentrates tens of kilowatts on it. The operator moves a joystick, but is not playing. You are deciding where to put the light.