Milipol 2025: China’s Novasky signals export ambitions with vehicle mounted NI L3K counter drone laser.

Chinese manufacturer Novasky has brought its NI L3K 3 kW high energy laser counter drone system to Milipol Paris 2025, mounting the weapon on a Changan Hunter 2025 pickup as a mobile last line of defense against small UAVs. The appearance signals that Chinese directed energy weapons are moving from national demonstrators into export oriented catalogs, with potential implications for how militaries defend critical sites against cheap drone swarms.

At Milipol Paris 2025, Chinese firm Novasky is showcasing the NI L3K, a truck-mounted high-energy laser designed to burn down small drones skimming at low altitude around critical infrastructure. The system, installed on a Changan Hunter 2025 pickup, represents a 3-kilowatt-class directed energy weapon aimed at so-called low, slow, small threats, and follows earlier marketing to regional buyers, including Pakistan, suggesting Novasky is preparing a wider export push in the counter-drone segment.
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The NI L3K is presented as a Chinese 3 kW high-energy laser (HEL) system mounted on a vehicle and dedicated to so-called low, slow, small threats, from modified commercial quadcopters to small tactical drones. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The NI L3K is presented as a Chinese 3 kW high energy laser (HEL) system mounted on a vehicle and dedicated to so-called low, slow, small threats, from modified commercial quadcopters to small tactical drones. The mock-up shows a compact turret installed in the cargo bed, topped by the laser head and combined with a day-night electro-optical ball providing visual detection, identification, and tracking, with full azimuth rotation and sufficient elevation to engage diving trajectories. The stand information emphasizes high strike efficiency, automatic tracking, target lock on, and rapid response, with the idea of an almost immediate engagement once firing is authorized. No numerical data is made public on range, required dwell time, or number of successive engagements, but the stated power places the system in the category of short-range tactical lasers designed to burn critical drone components, from the electric motor to the battery.

The choice of the Changan Hunter 2025 pick-up as a carrier is not incidental. It is a Chinese medium-sized double-cab pick-up truck, developed from the Changan F70 platform and also marketed under the names Peugeot Landtrek or Fiat Titano, depending on the market. In its 2025 version, the Hunter is available with a 1.9-liter turbo diesel engine delivering around 147 hp and 350 Nm of torque, with a stated towing capacity of 3,500 kg, and also in an extended range electric vehicle (EREV) hybrid variant rated up to 200 kW and 470 Nm, with a CLTC electric range of more than 130 km. Its dimensions, around 5.6 m in length and 1.93 m in width with a wheelbase close to 3.4 m and an unladen weight above 2 tonnes, provide a stable platform capable of supporting the NI L3K power block, cooling module, and fire control electronics while retaining a five-seat cab. This mass-produced base reduces integration costs, simplifies maintenance, and makes it possible, if needed, to consider installations on other chassis of the same family. At the show, the illustration on the technical leaflet presents the system on a Ford F-150, underlining the manufacturer’s intention to demonstrate that the weapon can be integrated on other widely used platforms.

The chosen configuration highlights the intended use of the system. The Hunter’s cargo bed houses the laser turret, technical compartments, and probably a dedicated power module, either in the form of reinforced batteries or an onboard auxiliary power unit. The payload-to-size ratio of the pickup keeps the silhouette relatively close to that of a standard utility vehicle, an advantage for close protection of sensitive sites or supply routes where visual discretion matters as much as mobility. The use of an all-terrain carrier with more than 23 cm of ground clearance, Four Wheel Drive, and a bed capable of taking heavy loads provides enough margin to absorb the system’s weight and operate on rough terrain. The choice of a chassis already known outside China also simplifies potential adaptation to other markets where a maintenance ecosystem is already in place.

A system such as the NI L3K is intended to sit on the last layer of an integrated Counter Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) architecture. Low altitude radars, radio frequency sensors, and electronic warfare assets are responsible for detecting, classifying, and disrupting drones at a distance, while the laser intervenes as a last resort close to critical infrastructure and deployed units. Connected to a Command and Control (C2) network providing a Recognized Air Picture and a Common Operational Picture (COP), the system receives prioritized tracks and can concentrate fire on the most dangerous threats. The absence of physical ammunition reduces the logistical burden and the cost per engagement while limiting the risk of collateral damage in urban or industrial areas. In return, the beam remains sensitive to weather conditions, airborne particles, and smoke screens, which requires strict rules of engagement and close coordination with other sensors to avoid blind sectors.

The presence of an operational tactical laser integrated on a Changan Hunter 2025 pick up and displayed at Milipol Paris 2025 shows that directed energy weapons are gradually moving out of the closed circle of national demonstrators and into the export catalogues of emerging suppliers. Novasky thus adds to an existing Chinese ecosystem already active in radars, MALE drones, and surface-to-air systems by providing an additional element for point defense against low-cost drone swarms. For interested armed forces, the issue is no longer just acquiring a laser, but ensuring that this capability can be integrated with their existing C UAS architectures, Emissions Control (EMCON) constraints and RMP/COP networks. For competitors, the spread of systems such as the NI L3K forces an acceleration in the development of counter-countermeasures, from protecting drone airframes to diversifying vectors, in an environment where directed energy is gradually becoming a routine component of close-in defense.