UK MoD Seeks Vehicle-Mounted Lasers to Counter Drone Swarms

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is soliciting technology to protect ground troops from drone saturation attacks that are designed to exhaust ammunition or overwhelm defenses. According to reporting from The Register, the initiative, titled Project PANOPTES, is being managed by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) with an initial budget of £5 million ($6.8 million) available for successful bidders.

The MoD is specifically targeting an integrated Counter-Uncrewed Aerial System (C-UAS) that can operate autonomously and be mounted on Army vehicles. While UKDI will consider various alternatives, the agency is particularly interested in Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) effectors. The primary focus is on NATO Class 1 uncrewed aerial systems—military drones weighing up to 150 kg—and the system must be capable of handling single, sequential, and simultaneous threat profiles, including swarm attacks.

This push follows previous capability demonstrations where the 16 Royal Artillery tested a 15 kW infrared laser mounted on a Wolfhound armored truck, which The Register reports neutralized targets at distances exceeding 1 km. While the Royal Navy is already preparing to fit the DragonFire laser weapon to a Type 45 destroyer next year as part of Project TALON, Project PANOPTES represents a move toward an operational vehicle-mounted system for the Army.

First-stage submissions for the two-stage competition close at midday on September 23.