Raytheon Company will build two prototype high energy laser systems to be deployed to troops overseas under a U.S. Air Force contract. Soldiers will use the HEL system to destroy hostile drones.
Raytheon’s HEL system uses pure energy to detect, identify and instantly take down drones. It can target a single drone with precision.
“Every day, there’s another story about a rogue drone incident,” said Stefan Baur, vice president of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. “These threats aren’t going away, and shooting them down with defensive missiles isn’t always the most effective and safest way to bring them down.”
The contract follows successful demonstrations of Raytheon’s directed energy systems for the Air Force and the U.S. Army.