Russian truck-mounted anti-drone laser debuts to deliver rapid multi-target defense.

Shvabe, the optoelectronics holding of Rostec, publicly presented a mobile anti-drone laser at Interpolitex 2025 in Moscow, confirming an air-cooled design, onboard batteries, and a truck-integrated C2 station. The system targets quadcopters and small reconnaissance UAVs, aiming for multi-target engagement in under one minute within layered air defenses.

At Moscow’s VDNH during Interpolitex 2025, Shvabe introduced a mobile high-energy laser complex built around an air-cooled power source and an optronic detection and tracking suite, with all hardware and the command post packaged inside an all-terrain truck. Rostec’s release and Russian tech media say the unit operates from rechargeable onboard batteries and is billed to disable several UAVs in about a minute, including small FPV drones, and can plug into external radars or acoustic stations for cueing inside a layered air defense picture.
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The entire system, including the command and control station, fits in the body of an all-terrain truck, enabling setup within minutes and rapid displacement (Picture source: Shvabe)

The complex centers on an air-cooled high-power laser. This choice, less demanding in fluids and maintenance than liquid cooling, simplifies logistics and reduces the system footprint during rapid deployment. The optronic suite combining detection and tracking sensors, handles the acquisition of small signature targets and maintains aim long enough to create thermal effects. The manufacturer indicates that the entire system, including the command and control station, fits in the body of an all-terrain truck, enabling setup within minutes and rapid displacement. Power is provided by onboard batteries that can be recharged from an external source when conditions allow, limiting acoustic and thermal signatures on position. These options align with Shvabe’s prior land laser work, structured around stabilized optics and compact sources.

The published details allow inference of operational envelopes consistent with this class of directed energy effectors. The claim to engage several drones in one minute implies dwell times of a few seconds per target on simple trajectories typical of low-speed quadcopters. Intended effects include sensor damage, cutting exposed cabling, degrading control surfaces, or inducing thermal runaway in batteries, leading to loss of control or uncontrolled descent. In practice, the useful range typically spans a few hundred meters to a short kilometer for compact systems in favorable weather and moderate turbulence. Main advantages are low cost per shot, absence of ballistic trajectories, and quiet operation, relevant for site defense in dense urban areas.

Integration in a multilayer defense yields the full value of the concept. The truck-mounted laser plugs into an array where short-range radars, passive RF detectors, or acoustic stations provide initial detection and pointing cues. External cueing shortens optical search, reduces crew workload, and increases the probability of intercepting an FPV before terminal dive. In this configuration, the laser acts as a directed energy effector reserved for leak throughs that evade radio jamming and 23 to 30 mm guns, while short-range missiles remain available for faster vectors or poor visibility. A deep magazine logic applies that the firing cadence depends mainly on energy and thermal management rather than ammunition stock.

Line of sight is mandatory; rain, dust and fog attenuate the beam; atmospheric scintillation complicates aim maintenance on fast crossing targets. Slightly elevated positions, sector procedures, and stabilized optics settings are therefore useful. Crew training is required to switch immediately to kinetic means when weather closes the laser window or geometry drives high crossing angles.

In comparison with Western programs, the Shvabe concept sits in the same family of close in effectors but with lean energy and logistics choices. In the United States, DE M SHORAD mounts a laser of about 50 kW on Stryker, evaluated in 2025 with the US Army and RCCTO against group 1 to 3 UAS inside a multi-sensor bubble. In the United Kingdom, the line pairs DragonFire with the Raytheon UK HELWS demonstrator fired from Wolfhound under LDEW trials with progressive C2 integration. Israel reports Iron Beam on a path to operational use in 2025 after trials against drones and RAM threats, with insertion planned in the national multilayer architecture. These references frame common employment parameters, point defense, minimal cost per shot, weather dependence, and tight sensor pointer C2 coupling. Shvabe’s choice to emphasize rechargeable batteries, air cooling, and an integrated optronic suite aims at quiet and mobile operation, while many Western counterparts rely on heavier energy and thermal chains or naval platforms.

The solution reflects a modular approach relevant to Russia’s defense industrial base, an cooled source, stabilized optronics, and battery power from a kit adaptable to different carriers. The absence of fluid subsystems and centralized fire control simplifies maintenance by line replaceable units, useful for forces operating under attrition. Pooling with other Shvabe sensor families streamlines supply and upkeep while retaining control of critical elements such as infrared detectors and pointing calculators. Potential increments in beam quality, adaptive optics, and improved tracking algorithms align with roadmaps already published for Shvabe’s land lasers.

The public presentation of a mobile laser at Interpolitex aligns with trends among several major actors, where directed energy effectors become standard components of close air defense. Competition focuses simultaneously on cost per shot, robustness to weather, and interoperability within shared operational pictures. If production follows, one can expect diffusion of laser nodes alongside electronic warfare and gun missile SHORAD in front-line forces, and by imitation among neighboring states, reinforcing counter-drone posture. This will shape budget trade-offs between air burst guns, short-range missiles, and compact lasers while regulation of directed energy use near civilian infrastructure remains an issue for authorities and alliances.