Laser "trident" against aircraft of the Russian Federation: How can Ukraine use the latest weapons
Laser weapons have long gone from the category of scientific and fiction to quite real, it can already boast of advanced countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Korea. Lasers are considered a promising means of fighting, first of all, against unmanned aircraft, but Vadim Sukharevsky stated that the "trident" is capable of knocking down planes, and even at an altitude of more than 2 kilometers, which raises certain issues.
The SBS leader may mean drones of aircraft type. What in practice is laser weapons? It is a system that creates a directional laser beam to defeat the target. Weaker models are intended only for blinding the chambers and sensors of the enemy, while stronger can literally be burned by the body, wings, engine blades, or other important elements of air agent.
These vulnerable parts are in the shock "Shahmed", reconnaissance "eagles" and other Russian drones, but with manned combat aircraft the situation is more difficult. In order for the laser to effectively strike the target, it is necessary that it could accurately focus the beam on a target that is moving at high speed. This is a rather difficult task that requires an automatic guidance system.
The British Dragonfire Complex has a power of 50 kW and must burn and destroy the design of the target, perhaps even cause detonation of the warhead. The range of weapons robots is classified, but the Defense Ministry claim that it is capable of affecting any target within direct visibility, that is, one can assume: a few kilometers. In addition, Dragonfire has high accuracy and is able to hit a coin from a distance of 1 kilometer.
It can be assumed that the Ukrainian "trident" has no less power and accuracy if it is capable of disrupting the aircraft (manned or unmanned) at a height of 2 km. The question is whether the stated height of the trident with its range should be identified. If this range, it is assumed that the target should be directly above the emitter. If it is only about the maximum height of the target, which is at a certain angle to the laser complex, then by the Pythagoras theorem will be greater.
In any case, 2 km is a significant achievement for laser weapons. In this regard, Trizub can be compared to a 50 kW RheinMetall prototype, which during the tests in 2012 from a distance of 1. 24 miles (about 2 km) in a few seconds struck a group of target drones, obviously small. Further weapons of this development are unknown, one in September appeared that Rheinmetall has concluded an agreement with the European MBDA missile manufacturer on joint development of a laser system for ships by 2030.
For example, the American system An/SEQ-3 (LAWS) officially has an effective range of 1. 6 km at a power of 50 kW. This is an existing laser weapon that is installed on US warships. The primary laser complexes began to be installed on the ship because of the rather large size and the need for considerable energy. It is likely that Ukraine can install a trident on one of its vessels to knock out "Shahda" or other enemy drones that run from Crimea to Odessa.
But it will be much more beneficial if you install a laser complex on a land mobile platform. Precedents in the world already have-the US Army has a 50 kW De M-Shorad Systems installed on Stryker armored personnel carriers. In 2024, four such complexes were sent to the Middle East. Unfortunately, the military noted that the use of laser weapons on the vehicle in the field is very difficult due to high heat transfer, breakdowns of the machine, a large amount of electronics to be serviced.