La empresa de defensa alemana RHEINMETALL y el conglomerado de firmas europeas MBDA, anunciaron un acuerdo de cooperaci\u00f3n para el desarrollo de Armas de Energ\u00eda Dirigida (DEW), espec\u00edficamente L\u00e1ser de Alta Energ\u00eda (HEL), para su empleo sobre plataformas navales. La amenaza creciente de Drones de bajo costo y Misiles de Crucero, sobre buques militares y civiles en los \u00faltimos conflictos, ha dado un renovado impulso al desarrollo de DEW. Existe bastante consenso entre los expertos a nivel global, que \u201cEl Arma del futuro\u201d para hacer frente a estas nuevas amenazas aut\u00f3nomas, que adem\u00e1s podr\u00edan operar en enjambres, ser\u00e1n las Armas de Energ\u00eda Dirigida. Asimismo, ambas empresas coinciden, que al integrar las capacidades y \u2018Know-how\u201d espec\u00edfico que cada una de ellas tiene, permitir\u00e1 disponer de un arma prototipo para ser evaluada operativamente a fines de 2025.<\/p>\n
BELFAST \u2014 Germany\u2019s\u00a0Rheinmetall<\/a>\u00a0and European missile firm\u00a0MBDA<\/a>\u00a0announced a laser weapons cooperation agreement today, in a bid to jointly develop a maritime-based system and bring it to market \u201cwithin the next five to six years.\u201d<\/p>\n Rheinmetall provided the timeline in a company statement and added that the future solution \u201copens up new possibilities, particularly in relation to drone defence on ships.\u201d<\/p>\n Both industry partners, \u201care convinced that their complementary skills in the field of laser weapon technology will enable them to successfully develop a military laser weapon system,\u201d said Rheinmetall.<\/p>\n The cooperation agreement builds off steps taken by both parties in September 2023 to set \u201cprerequisites\u201d for the development of a \u201cfirst laser weapon,<\/a>\u201d including a commitment to make \u201cinternal preparations\u201d for the new platform\u2019s development phase.<\/p>\n The companies have previously teamed for a demonstration onboard the German navy\u2019s F124 air defense Sachsen frigate, which fired over 100 test shots.<\/p>\n The demonstrator delivered on \u201call aspects\u201d of \u201ccombat effectiveness\u201d ranging from, \u201cdetection and tracking\u2026the interplay of sensors, command and weapon engagement systems and effectors; possible rules of engagement,\u201d through to target engagement, according to Rheinmetall.<\/p>\n Laser weapons are considered a cost effective alternative to naval based missiles being expended to shootdown cheap drones, with the UK\u2019s in development\u00a0DragonFire<\/a>\u00a0high energy laser, for example, said to cost \u00a310 ($13) a shot. There are obvious applications for that given what is happening in the Red Sea over the last year, where US ships are using expensive rounds to take down small cruise missiles or drones.<\/p>\n Though the promise offered by laser weapons is clear, they typically have long research and development phases, largely because of design challenges involving beam stability and power sustainment, both of which are critical to stay on target and destroy it. There\u2019s a reason there\u2019s an old joke in defense circles that \u201clasers are the weapon of the future, and always will be.\u201d<\/p>\n US Navy Rear Adm. Fred Pyle, Director of the Surface Warfare Division, or N96, and responsible for managing the service\u2019s laser technology weapon efforts, said in January that the US Navy and industry should be more \u201cintellectually honest<\/a>\u201d with one another about capabilities of laser systems. He also criticized a \u201ctendency to over promise and under deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, there is a growing sense that lasers are becoming real utility, particularly for missile defense. For instance, Israel\u2019s Rafael, manufacturer of the 100kW class Iron Beam ground-based laser air defense system, told Breaking Defense in March that the new system is expected to be fielded \u201cby the end of 2025<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The company claims, there is \u201calmost zero cost per interception<\/a>\u201d when employing the high energy solution, which is also said to be capable of destroying a \u201cwide\u00a0array\u00a0of threats\u00a0from a range of hundreds of meters to several kilometers.\u201d<\/p>\n