The latest, yet less gorgeous addition to its Olympic arsenal is a laser beam weapon system that will shoot drones straight down from the sky.
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced in June that it has ordered one particular prototype of an anti-drone laser weapon system, called HELMA-P, to become deployed for the 2024 Paris Olympics .
“The HELMA-P system provides an arranged response to the jingle threat, from stunning the drone’s observation instruments to the neutralization of a mini or micro drone (from 100g to 25kg) by altering its structure, causing it to fall in a couple of seconds, ” the ministry said in a declaration.
“Altering its structure” is really a nice way to state burning a hole through any potential drone.
This model will also help “deepen the military’s understanding of its deployment, ” as an anti-drone advertising campaign is a priority organized by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces for your 2019-2025 period, according to the statement.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) informed CNN that security of the Games may be the responsibility of local authorities.
The particular HELMA-P system can shoot out powerful laser beams that heat up drones to a point where they will either burn or even overheat and shutdown, according to Jean, chief engineer of tools at the ministry’s Common Directorate for Armament, in charge of developing plus purchasing weapons.
The ministry declined to give out there Jean’s last name to get security concerns.
Drone risks have increased significantly in recent years including to get big events like the Olympics, according to Philippe Gros, senior research fellow at French security and protection think tank Foundation for Strategic Analysis.
Drones can be used to scan and search a given area to identify the location of potential targets. They could also be modified to hold weapons or explosives. Mini drones, that is what the French system targets, have been playing an active role over the frontline in Ukraine.
Apart from the laser unit, the anti-drone system will also include radar and radio frequency detectors to aid in finding drones. Once determined, the weapon produced by CILAS, owned simply by French defense large ArianeGroup, has an one-kilometer killing range, based on Jean.
But employing such a powerful tool in densely populated Paris, where site visitors from around the world collect to celebrate the Olympics, brings up protection concerns.
“An important part of the anti-drone laser system is the safe procedure of this weapon, ” Jean said.
It will be to the team operating on a lawn to determine if they need to shoot down a drone or not.
“This choice will take into account the fact that the fall of the damaged drone could lead to a few danger, ” Jean said.
A laser tool system is also probably the most cost-effective ways to deal with the growing jingle threats in urban areas, according to experts.
“One of the reasons lasers are interesting is that, when compared with interception missiles, you can find no explosives involved and even if the jingle explodes, it’s just its debris that will fall. In general, it brings less guarantee damage, ” Gros told CNN.
Laser weaponry offer other advantages, including precision and low operational price; they don’t need munitions, which helps describe their increasing popularity among military power such as the United States, China, France and the UK, according to Gros.
More specific in order to drone prevention, the HELMA-P system and other similar laser tool systems fill in the gap where conventional anti-drone tools struggle to keep up with new developments in drone technologies.
“The problem is drones are becoming more and more autonomous, they could fly many areas of the mission without an operator, ” Gros said.
This means the traditional method of jamming signals among drones and operators could become outdated.
Currently, anti-drone laser weapons still have many weak points. For instance, bad weather conditions impact their precision and efficiency. The is still on a learning path, according to Gros.
Regarding tourists visiting Paris, france in 2024, the particular Ministry of the Military assured that its laser weapon is just not cause too much thoughts for the public.
“The strategy is quite stealthy because it does not emit light because the laser actually is invisible, inch Jean said.
“It is not going to make any noise either. It’s actually a very discreet weapon. ”