Raytheon UK, part of RTX’s Raytheon business, announced that its High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) completed a successful live-firing with the British Army directed against moving aerial targets.
The trial, conducted at a military range in Wales, is the latest stage of the Ministry of Defense’s Land Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) demonstrator program and saw British soldiers operating Raytheon’s HELWS by successfully tracking and neutralizing moving aerial targets.
The experiment marks the first time the British Army has tested a high-energy laser weapon mounted on an armored vehicle, while also having soldiers trained on the weapon’s targeting and tracking technologies.
Raytheon’s HELWS was the first laser weapon integrated and fired from a land vehicle in the UK, as part of a joint program between Raytheon UK and Team Hersa (the joint LDEW enterprise between Defense and Science Laboratory and Defense Equipment and Support).
The system operates by directing an intense beam of energy toward its target, using advanced sensors and tracking systems to maintain lock-on and accuracy in real time. It has proved effective in real-world conditions, validating its potential as a game-changing technology in modern warfare.