German Navy Set to Arm Warships with High-Energy Lasers

The German Navy (Bundesmarine) intends to arm its warships with high-energy laser (HEL) weapon systems for close-in defense against aerial drones and small watercraft within the decade.

It recently awarded a contract to arms maker Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH and missile systems company, MBDA Deutschland GmbH, to build, test and field a close-in defense HEL within the year. Both companies have formed a consortium called ARGE for the laser project.

At-sea trials of the new HEL demonstrator will be conducted in 2022 aboard the advanced air-defense frigate FGS Sachsen (F219), lead ship of the Bundesmarine's newest warship class. The demonstrator system will be put to the test under highly realistic operating conditions by the Sachsen.

Once the HEL demonstrator is installed, it will be used to test other aspects of the laser weapon system. These systems include the sensor suite and combat management system.

“The contract marks a systematic extension of the functional prototype laser weapon successfully tested in recent years, with the experience gained now dovetailing into one of the most ambitious projects in the field of laser weapon development in Europe,” said Alexander Graf, head of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition’s laser weapons program, and Dr.-Ing. Markus Jung, Head of Technology & Innovation, Directed Energy Division, Rheinmetall Defense.

Under the contract, MBDA Deutschland is responsible for target tracking, developing the operator’s console and linking the laser weapon demonstrator to the command-and-control system.

Rheinmetall is in charge of the laser weapon station, the beam guidance system, cooling, and integration of the laser weapon system into the laser source demonstrator.

What the Bundesmarine can expect from the project is a HEL "in the power class 10 to 20 kW on the carriage of the MLG27 light naval gun," said Dr. Jung in a recent interview..

"This system offers the possibility of neutralizing current seaborne threats such as fast attack boats, jet skis, skiffs and UAVs."

Jung said as the system is recoilless, it can be deployed, "perhaps in containerized form, on ships or boats that currently have little or no close-in defence capability."

He also said the German military has proven HELs can destroy aircraft and UAVs up to three kilometres away. HELs can also render medium-caliber munitions and munitions in munitions boxes harmless at up to two kilometers.

Jung said more powerful 100 kW lasers are needed to destroy mortar shells. HELs generating 120 kW and higher will be able to destroy combat aircraft at up to four or more kilometers away. (Jan. 28, 2021)

The Bundesmarine frigate, Hamburg