Protecting drones from high-power lasers with reflective or thermic coatings is fails to protect. It is a known countermeasure that’s been researched since the Cold War, but modern 100 kW and 300 kW lasers defeat it quickly and reliably for typical small/medium drones (Group 1-3 UAVs like FPVs or commercial quadcopters). Dusty days can reduce …
For too long the US was using $2 million missiles to fight $300-$30000 threats. No longer. There is shift and and armraces of the cheap, good enough drones. The US now has cheap $35000 drones too and combat lasers are getting deployed for $5 per shot defense. It is $35000 drone for $35000 drone and …
Israel’s Iron Beam (aka Or Eitan) laser air-defense system is fully operational. On December 28–30, 2025, the first operational 100 kW system formally delivered by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to the IDF. This was the transition from testing to serial production. They are integrated as the innermost (fifth) layer of Israel’s multi-tier air defense alongside …
The U.S. Navy has deployed the HELIOS (High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance) during Operation Epic Fury and there are reports of shooting down Iranian drones. US CENTCOM released footage in 2026 showing an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer equipped with the steerable high-energy laser operating off Iran’s coast while launching strikes. The New York …
Despite the $100 million Breakthrough Starshot pledge, public accounting shows less than $10 million spending. Philip Lubin (UC Santa Barbara, laser propulsion) received ~$200,000 over eight years. This was less than his NASA grants for similar work. There is an estimate of 30 contracts totaling $4.5 million. Scientists viewed this as a kickstart. Breakthrough’s name …
The DARPA Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program achieved several new records for transmitting power over distance. The team recorded more than 800 watts of power delivered during a 30-second transmission from a laser 8.6 kilometers (5.3 miles) away. Over the course of the test campaign, more than a megajoule of energy was transferred. …
In 18 months, Israel deplayed an anti-drone system which intercepted dozens of targets throughout the war. There is a laser division in the Israeli Air Force which is operating new laser system built by Rafael. Israel is working on Iron Beam which is Israel’s next-generation interception system that was scheduled to become operational by year’s …
The US Navy released a new photo of USS Preble (DDG-88) firing her HELIOS laser weapon. It is a 60 kilowatt combat laser. badass pic.twitter.com/i3thc0dH6H — CommonSenseOnMars (@CommonSenseMars) February 3, 2025 The USS Preble is the first U.S. Navy vessel equipped with HELIOS, a 60-kilowatt-class directed energy laser weapon developed by Lockheed Martin. It is …
The economics for AI chips has to work for Chip builders System builders Data center operators Application builders Paying customer (end users). The bigger large language models are at 400 Gigabytes or more and mixture of experts is at 1.8 terabytes. TechTechPotato interviews AyarLabs and makes the case that optical connections between chiplets is needed …
SpaceX satellites built for the US Space Development Agency demonstrated direct satellite to satellite laser communications in space using optical terminals compliant with military standards. U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) director Derek Tournear said Sept. 4. that two SpaceX-built satellites successfully exchanged data using optical communications terminals. The satellites, part of SDA’s Tranche 0 experimental …
The US Army has used lasers to take down hostile drones in the Middle East, Doug Bush, the Army’s head of acquisitions. It’s the first time the Defense Department has acknowledged that such weapons have been used in combat. The US is not the first country to use lasers in actual combat. Starting in 2020, …