Indra Systems and Mechanical and Engineering Clerk temporarily combined to develop a Instrument Laser Weapons Demonstrator (DIAL) against remotely controlled aerial vehicles for an amount approaching 11 million euros.
The order was placed through the company General Directorate for Armaments and Materiel (DGAM) of Ministry of Defense. The two companies will work on the design of the laser system over the next four years. The contract award notice you had access to Infodefense.comstates that the various phases of the project will last until December 2027.
DIAL It is the first major Department of Defense program focused specifically on the development of laser weapons. The project has an exact budget of 10,979,981 euros including taxes. Currently, information on the weapon’s features is scarce, though Annual Defense Contracts Schedule (Pacdef) offers a few more clues about this project.
The document includes a program with the same amount as is now underway to develop an anti-drone weapon of up to 35 kw. All indications are that this DIAL project is the one appearing in Pacdef.
At the same time as the award is announced, the Ministry of Defense publishes a document on the State Contract Platform with questions from participating companies, which confirm that it will be an anti-RPAS system. “The file refers to a prototype of a complete anti-RPAS system,” the department specifies in one of the responses.
According to this document, the demonstrator will have an electro-optical system among its elements; targeting system; a pointing laser, integrated into the laser subsystem, which focuses the beam; and laser shooting. It will also have a direction of fire that locates the target, its distance and provides this information to the laser subsystem. The entire system must be located inside the shelter, except for those systems that require line-of-sight with the target (fire direction and beam output).
The Rise of Laser Weapons
For decades, militaries around the world have been immersed in the development of this type of weaponry, which aspires to play a significant role in air defense, from drones to missiles.
Countries like the United States have made significant investments. The US Navy, for example, has already started installing laser cannons on its ships. The industry is moving forward in this field as well. American Lockheed Martin and Israeli Raphael joined forces to develop a laser anti-aircraft defense weapon while in Europe MBDA and Rheinmetall working on a naval laser system for German Navy. These are just some examples.
In Spain navy It has already made it clear that it wants to equip its future F-110 frigates with laser weapons for air defense. In previous years, the Ministry of Defense has already funded R&D projects in this area through the Coincident program of the General Directorate for Armaments and Materiel (DGAM). He Salamanca Pulsed Laser Center It has several lines of research open for the development of directed energy weapons using high-powered lasers.