Ukrainian engineers have created and successfully tested a new laser air defense system called “Sunray”. It can effectively destroy enemy drones and is much cheaper than Western counterparts.
This is stated in the material of The Atlantic.
Journalist Simon Schuster, who was at the tests, says that the installation looks like an amateur telescope with cameras and can even operate from the roof of an ordinary pickup truck. It is silent and does not emit visible light.
During the demonstration, the laser was able to shoot down a drone. Schuster describes it this way: “Within seconds, the drone began to burn, as if it had been struck by invisible lightning, and then fell to the ground in an arc of fire.”
The developers say they created the system in about two years, spending several million dollars. A single installation is expected to cost several hundred thousand dollars. For comparison, Lockheed Martinʼs Helios laser system for the US Navy was developed under a $150 million contract.
The article emphasizes that Ukraineʼs own developments are important because of the lack of Western systems. Many American weapons are being reoriented to the Middle East, and European countries are in no hurry to give up their air defense systems, which "they may someday need to protect their own people from Russian drones".
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