"The economics are hard to ignore. Shooting down a drone with AeroVironment's LOCUST laser system costs less than $10, using just two to five seconds of laser energy. Compare that to the interceptor missiles currently used against Iranian drone swarms, which cost orders of magnitude more and are in short supply across allied arsenals."
"Nawabi pointed to the Ukraine and Iran conflicts as proof that mass drone attacks are now a defining feature of modern warfare. He noted in the Q3 earnings call that Iran launched close to 1,400 one-way attack drones into the UAE alone in a single week."
"Lasers don't reload. Their supply lines are power. The Titan series handles RF jamming, which Nawabi described as the world's best technology in that category, while LOCUST handles the directed energy kill layer."
Directed energy technology, particularly lasers, is emerging as a crucial defense mechanism against drone warfare. The cost-effectiveness of systems like AeroVironment's LOCUST laser, which can shoot down drones for less than $10, contrasts sharply with the millions spent on interceptor missiles. The increasing prevalence of drone attacks, as evidenced in conflicts like Ukraine and Iran, highlights the limitations of traditional kinetic defenses. AeroVironment's layered defense approach combines RF jamming and directed energy systems to address these challenges effectively.
Read at 24/7 Wall St.
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