The laser weapons race enters its industrial era

"Israel had sent a version of its 100 KW Iron Beam high-energy laser weapon to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help Abu Dhabi fend off hundreds of missiles and drones fired by Iran since the beginning of the U.S. military's Operation Epic Fury. The deployment is one of the first examples of major defense cooperation between the two countries since the 2020 Abraham Accords-a display of "the value of being Israel's friend," according to a regional official."

"There is little information publicly available on Iron Beam's performance in the UAE. But on May 7, Defence Blog reported a Chinese-made vehicle-mounted laser weapon had been spotted at Dubai International Airport. Tentatively identified as consistent with the Guangjian-21A system first displayed at the Zhuhai Airshow in 2022, there was no announcement of the system's export from Beijing or an acknowledgement of its arrival in the country from Abu Dhabi."

"The sudden appearance of laser weapons in the UAE isn't a total surprise: The government has previously expressed interest in procuring foreign directed-energy systems through both direct sales and strategic partnerships and even pushed to develop its own indigenous research and development ecosystem. But neither story mentioned that the Abu Dhabi was already in the process of acquiring an American laser weapon system as well."

"A notification to Congress published on April 15 revealed that the UAE had asked to buy 10 counter-drone Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat Systems (FS-LIDS) from the U.S. Defense Department for $2.1 billion-and, notably, the system's command and control (C2) architecture was being specifically scoped to integrate an unnamed laser weapon "being purchased" by Abu Dhabi through direct comm"

Israel sent a 100 kW Iron Beam high-energy laser weapon to the United Arab Emirates to help Abu Dhabi defend against hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran. Public information on Iron Beam performance in the UAE is limited. A Chinese-made vehicle-mounted laser weapon was spotted at Dubai International Airport and tentatively identified as the Guangjian-21A system, with no public confirmation of export or arrival. The UAE has shown interest in acquiring directed-energy systems through direct sales and partnerships and in building indigenous research and development. A U.S. congressional notification shows the UAE requested 10 FS-LIDS counter-drone systems for $2.1 billion, with command and control architecture scoped to integrate an unnamed laser weapon being purchased by Abu Dhabi through direct communication.

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