Global Drone Incursions Push Nations to Deploy Laser Defenses Reshaping Airspace Warfare.

Rising drone incursions from Europe to Asia are pushing governments to fast-track high-energy laser defenses once confined to research labs. Nations from Israel to the United States, Germany, and Japan are moving toward operational beam weapons that promise cheaper, deeper, and cleaner protection against mass drone threats.

Airports, military bases, and energy sites across Europe and beyond are facing a sharp rise in drone incursions, prompting emergency powers, new airspace restrictions, and a rush for counter-UAS technologies. What began as a regional nuisance has become a global catalyst, driving the European Commission, the United States, Israel, and several Indo-Pacific nations to accelerate directed-energy and electronic counter-drone programs. As incidents multiply and missile stocks remain costly to expend, high-power lasers are moving from test ranges into procurement plans, redefining how states approach short-range and base defense in the post-missile era.

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A powerful red laser beam from the DragonFire directed-energy weapon system cuts through the night sky during a live-fire test (Picture source: U.K. MoD)

States are investing in high-power laser directed-energy weapons because the economics and the tempo of attacks have changed. A quadcopter that costs hundreds or thousands of euros can force defenders to fire missiles worth tens or hundreds of thousands; a laser offers deep magazines tied to a generator and near-negligible cost per shot. Lasers also enable quiet, precise engagements around cities, airbases, and refineries where debris-free effects matter. The limits are real: weather, aerosols, thermal management, and the need for exquisite tracking, but for base and convoy defense against Group 1–3 drones, the technology is now credible and increasingly demanded.

The ranking established in this analysis serves as a practical framework for gauging program maturity, from early conceptual designs to systems entering operational service. It is intentionally approximate, reflecting the limited public disclosure around key performance metrics such as power levels, dwell times, and environmental resilience. Despite these constraints, the scale reveals a clear trajectory: a few nations have transitioned from demonstration to deployment, several are industrializing prototypes, and others remain in the conceptual phase with uncertain timelines.

The Iron Beam laser defense system is shown mounted on its platform, featuring its high-energy laser emitter designed to intercept aerial threats such as rockets, mortars, and drones (Picture source: Rafeal)

At the top tier sit programs with operational or near-operational status. Israel’s Iron Beam completed a major test campaign and is slated for military use in 2025 as a low-cost layer against rockets, mortars, and drones, integrated with existing national air-defense networks. Officials emphasize the per-shot savings relative to interceptors and the value of coupling lasers with radar-cueing and legacy missile batteries.

The U.S. Navy’s HELIOS laser weapon system is seen mounted on a destroyer, firing a concentrated energy beam across the sea to intercept aerial or surface threats (U.S. Navy)

Fielded testing and limited operational use characterize the United States. The Army’s 50 kW-class DE M-SHORAD on Stryker has undergone soldier evaluations, including an overseas assessment, with feedback now informing software, power and ergonomics refinements. At sea, the Navy’s HELIOS mounted on USS Preble shot down an aerial target in fiscal 2024 testing, validating a shipboard hard-kill laser within the combat system and pointing to future fleet fits.

The Royal British Navy will deploy the DragonFire laser weapon by 2027, enhancing its defense against drones and missiles (Video Source: Royal British Navy)

Large-scale demonstrators with extensive live fire mark Germany and the United Kingdom. The German Navy completed more than 100 firings from frigate Sachsen, proving beam control, tracking and combat-system integration in maritime conditions. The UK’s DragonFire program has accelerated toward initial fleet installation in the second half of the decade, with public indications of a 50 kW-class architecture aimed at counter-UAS and inner-layer missile defense.

Prototype status with live-fire trials is exemplified by India. DRDO’s Integrated Air Defence Weapon System conducted maiden flight tests in August 2025 with a laser component alongside QRSAM and very-short-range missiles, signaling an indigenous path to layered defenses that include directed energy. Power class and sustained-engagement data are not yet public, but the demonstration moves the program beyond concept.

Development and pre-production demonstrators include France and the EU’s PESCO effort led by Italy with Spain. France’s HELMA-P laser has been used for site protection tasks, while follow-on work is targeting higher power and tighter integration with national C2. The PESCO Directed Energy Systems project aims to field modular 10–100 kW mobile laser effectors for SHORAD/VSHORAD and C-RAM roles, creating a shared European industrial base around MBDA/Leonardo architectures.

Beijing unveiled the imposing LY-1 high-power laser weapon during a September 2025 military parade, showcasing China’s progress in directed-energy technology designed to counter drones and precision threats (Picture Source: Chinese MoD)

Blueprint and early-stage programs, or those with opaque evidence, include China and Russia. Beijing unveiled the imposing LY-1 high-power laser during a September 2025 parade, signaling ambitions for ship and land roles, while earlier Silent Hunter/SkyShield exports have faced performance challenges in hot, dusty environments. Moscow, for its part, has announced large-scale tests of new laser defenses, but public data on sustained fielding remain limited. These cases illustrate both momentum and the physics-driven constraints that still shape real-world performance.

ASELSAN’s GÖKBERK Mobile Laser Weapon System is designed to provide mobile air defense using high-energy laser technology (Video Source: Aselsan)

Additional movers are translating prototypes into credible options. Türkiye’s ASELSAN reported successful FPV-drone kills with its mobile GÖKBERK laser, positioned as a near-field layer in a broader counter-UAS concept. Japan’s ATLA/MHI team has demonstrated a vehicle-mounted 10 kW system neutralizing drones during 2025 tests, with scaling work underway. South Korea is preparing Block-I laser deployments against North Korean drones, citing a roughly $1.45 per-shot cost and 10–20 second dwell guidance. Australia’s EOS “Apollo” has entered the export market with a 100 kW-class system scalable to 150 kW, backed by a multi-year NATO order and public demonstrations.

Technically, the public domain points to emerging “rules of thumb.” Tens of kilowatts suffice for small quadcopters in clear air; around 50 kW improves effects against larger Group-3 targets; 100 kW-plus begins to stress rocket and mortar skins at tactically meaningful ranges. Beam control, precision tracking, and resilient power-and-cooling are as decisive as raw power. Weather and aerosols attenuate beams; naval platforms gain from abundant power and cooling but face salt spray and boundary-layer turbulence; land systems must manage dust, humidity and thermal blooming. The Saudi experience with Chinese systems under desert conditions underscores how the environment can make or break performance claims.

The Iron Dome, developed by Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, is a short-range air defense system intercepting rockets and artillery shells, with each Tamir interceptor missile costing about 40,000 to 50,000 USD per launch (Picture Source: Rafael)

Looking ahead, these products will reshape, not erase, missile-based air defenses. In theory, if every base, brigade, and ship had weather-proof, high-duty-cycle lasers with robust cueing, missiles would become a niche tool. In practice, missiles remain essential for bad-weather intercepts, hard and fast targets, long-range shots, and beyond-line-of-sight engagements. The likely doctrine is “mix-and-match”: lasers take the cheap, plentiful threats; missiles conserve inventory for what only they can defeat; guns and electronic warfare fill gaps. As integration deepens, from Israel’s national network to UK and U.S. combat systems, the affordable inner layer will increasingly be a beam, with interceptors preserved for the outer fight.

For publics watching drones buzz European skies, the message is that governments are moving from experiments to hardware. Leaders are prioritizing deep-magazine defenses that can meet daily drone harassment without bankrupting missile stocks, while keeping high-end interceptors ready for the worst night. Countries that master power, optics and command-and-control, and prove performance in weather, will set the pace. The missile era does not end here, but the cheapest winning shot in the inner layer is rapidly becoming a beam.

Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.