Chinese navy trials laser weapon

Chinese media have reported that a prototype laser weapon is being tested by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

An article published on 5 April on the Sina news website contains several screengrabs taken from footage broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV) showing a trainable optical device mounted on a mobile chassis with a large main lens.

This is surmounted by two smaller devices, possibly optical and radio frequency ranging and tracking sensors. One of the images also shows an auxiliary trailer that could be used as a mobile generator, as well as Chinese troops nearby in naval uniform.

No definitive information relating to the capability of the system has been disclosed but the Sina report suggests that a truck-mounted variant could form part of a coastal defence battery, and that a shipborne device could be an alternative to the HHQ-10 short-range surface-to-air missile system, implying that the laser-based system may have a range of about 5 km.

China has produced several examples of road-mobile laser weapons. For instance, in late 2017 China released information about a laser weapon system that had successfully destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle at a range of about 300 m.

That same year Poly Technologies revealed its Silent Hunter fibre-optic laser air-defence system at the IDEX show held in Abu Dhabi, while at Airshow China 2018 China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) unveiled its LW-30 road-mobile, laser weapon system intended for engaging aerial platforms and precision-guided weapons. The LW-30 system was shown mounted on a 6×6 tactical truck.