Protecting The Fleets: Industry Developing Arsenal for Small Vehicle Drone Protection. (COVER STORY)

• Date: 01 February 2025
• Author: Seck, Hope Hodge

On a southern New Mexico range in late December, a new kind of weapon rolled into view: a prototype Stryker combat vehicle armed and equipped for killing enemy drones with directed energy lasers.

Mounted with defense contractor BlueHalo's LOCUST laser weapon system, the vehicle deployed 26 kilowatts of power in laser shots against Group 1 and Group 2 unmanned aerial vehicles simulating enemy drones up to 55 pounds in weight out to ranges of "several kilometers," according to Mary Clum, president of BlueHalo's product and space systems portfolio.

And the Counter-UAS Directed Energy Stryker proved 100 percent effective in the test, commissioned by the Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, effecting a kill in so of so shots taken. But while the 20-ton Stryker can handle the weight of a drone-killing system with ease, Clum said the laser weapon, with a few modifications, can protect even the smallest and lightest vehicles in the ground force's fleets.

It has also mounted the laser weapon system and other sensors and effectors on an Infantry Squad Vehicle and a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, she said. "It can move and be modular for each vehicle."

The Defense Department has highlighted counter-UAS weapons and defenses as a top priority, publishing a strategy for countering unmanned systems in December that states the threat of hostile drones has "democratized precision strike" in places like Ukraine and the Middle East. It calls for the production and delivery of robust defensive systems "at speed and scale" through rapid acquisition, ramped-up experimentation, budget flexibility and partnerships with allies, among other pathways. But as difficult as it is to protect large vehicles like tanks and Strykers from cheap and hostile drones, the challenge becomes orders of magnitude harder when the vehicles get smaller and lighter. The cost and weight of a weapon suited to protecting a tank may be far too burdensome for an ATV-style Infantry Squad Vehicle or Humvee. While multiple solutions have been proposed to solve this challenge, each has specific drawbacks or limitations. Increasingly, military leaders and contractors are saying they can't afford to take any approach off the table as they pursue a Swiss Army Knife of countermeasures capable of adapting as the threat evolves.

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