AIM Defence has delivered two more of its high-powered counter-drone laser systems to Defence to bring its work with the department to more than $10 million over the past year.
The new $4.8 million deal, signed at the end of August, comes less than four months after the Melbourne-based manufacturer supplied Defence with its first direct-energy weapon.
The Fractl Portable High Energy Laser system is powerful enough to burn through steel and can track objects as small as a 10-cent piece travelling 100km/h a kilometre away, according to Defence.
It’s silent, virtually motionless, and soldiers can be taught to use it in minutes.
AIM Defence designed the suitcase-sized laser that works like a blowtorch travelling at the speed of light.
At the Puckapunyal demonstration, the team ‘hard killed’ a drone at 500m with a deployable prototype.
Corporal Patrick Flanagan was given a ‘soldier’s five’ before he successfully shot down a drone.
“You push a button to track the drone and the computer takes over, then you push another button to ‘pull the trigger’ just like a video game,” said Flanagan.
“With your index finger, you can quickly change your aim between the drone’s video camera, centre mass, or one of the propellers.
It only takes seconds to knock out the camera and two or three seconds to disable the rotor.”
Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation and Coordination Office’s Warrant Officer Class Two Eli Lea said the Fractl Portable High Energy Laser could be one of many emerging weapons on future battlefields.
“Drones come in all shapes and sizes and you need a variety of tools to defeat the threat,” WO2 Lea said.
“Shooting small multi-rotor UAS out of the sky is particularly challenging. A directed-energy weapon that can detect, track, and engage those types of targets is a part of that toolset.”
While the laser’s strength is limited by power supply, AIM Defence has successfully engaged drones at 1km in past tests.
