Login
iscover
The Australian Department of Defence will develop laser technology with Mitsubishi Electric Australia, according to a recent announcement from the Japanese company.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The joint development project aims to develop and transition a capability for the Australian military to enhance surveillance and survivability of Australian defence platforms, according to the statement made by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation on 19 October.
“Development of this capability, based on cutting-edge laser technology developed by Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group, will utilise laser technology fostered by Mitsubishi Electric.
“Mitsubishi Electric will provide the prototypes and its capabilities.
“This project is the first case of a joint development agreement between Japanese company and a foreign government in the defence sector and is a new business model for Japan, which has been promoting transfer of defence equipment and technology through public-private partnerships.
“Mitsubishi Electric will promote transfer of defence equipment and technology cooperation.”
In April this year, QinetiQ Australia announced a $12.9 million two-year contract with Defence Australia to co-develop and manufacture a high-energy defensive laser system prototype capable of deployment in a wide range of operational environments
Under that agreement collaborative work would be undertaken with the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) to develop and deliver laser sources suitable for directed energy applications.
QinetiQ had previously announced a three-year, $13 million directed energy laser weapon development contract with Australia, in a third quarter trading update on 18 January.
Canberra-based defence company Electro Optic Systems has also pitched a “silent and deadly” directed energy laser system during a live fire demonstration earlier this year.
Members of the media (including Defence Connect) and university staff attended the kinetic and directed energy counter-drone live fire demonstration at Klondyke Range Complex in western NSW on 25 August.
During the presentation, the company’s Titanis water-cooled, 34-kilowatt (light energy) laser directed energy system was successfully tested against unmanned aerial vehicles and 8mm-thick steel plates at a distance of around one kilometre. The system operates out of a 20-foot container testbed.
“Directed energy as a technology has a range of applications from low-power systems for counter sensor operations, all the way up through to very high-powered systems, which can deliver counter ballistic missiles, counter hypersonics, and even counter space,” according to Matt Jones, EOS executive vice-president defence systems.
“What we’re seeing here is a very small sliver of what you can do with directed energy. The employment scenario drives the requirements of the deployment system and directed energy has some key technical advantages.
“High speed targets are not high speed when you compare it to the speed of light.
“Other systems where you’re trying to either fire a missile or fire a round at something that’s moving very, very fast make it very hard to hit that target.”
