Japan 100 kW laser
A directed-energy weapon meant to make drone swarms cheap to defeat.
VIDEO · WARTECHXWATCH ON YOUTUBE →
ROLE
Short-range ship defense that burns through drones for the cost of electricity instead of a missile.
STRENGTHS
- Very low cost per shot
- No magazine to run dry while power lasts
- Speed-of-light engagement against small, slow targets
WEAKNESSES
- Weather, spray and haze cut its range
- Must hold on one target for seconds before the next
- Needs large power and cooling on board
Japan tested a 100-kilowatt-class laser at sea in early 2026 and is now designing a shipboard prototype. The United States put naval laser prototypes to sea first, from 2014, but the reason every major navy is moving now is the same: drone swarms and saturation attacks make missile-on-drone defense ruinously expensive.
A laser turns that equation around. The open problems are physics and engineering: atmosphere, dwell time, power and cooling, which the paired video works through.
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