From Popular Mechanics: “There’s a new weapon and sensor package that not only fits on the back of of an all terrain vehicle, but also shoots down drones with laser beams. Defense contractor Raytheon has put its Multi-spectral Targeting System and a portable laser into the Polaris MRZR ATV, and the result is go-anywhere surveillance vehicle that can burn drones to boot.”
“The weaponization of small consumer drones in the Middle East and Europe makes conventional armies nervous. Inexpensive, easily available and difficult to detect, drones have been used to drop improvised explosive devices such as hand grenades on vulnerable targets… sometimes with billion-dollar consequences. Houthi rebels in Yemen have even used suicide drones to knock out ballistic missile defense radars, paving the way for Scud missile attacks.”
“As a result, armies are rapidly fielding anti-drone weapons. Some of these weapons work by interfering with the radio command signal between the drone and the operator. Others work by simply burning the drone out of the sky with focused beams of light. Raytheon’s answer—the High Energy Laser Weapon System-MRZR (HELWS-MRZR)—combines a laser weapon, advanced surveillance equipment, and a Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicle.”
Image Credit: Raytheon
