The British Ministry of Defense has launched the PANOPTES Project - a program to develop anti-unmanned aerial vehicles capabilities for the British Army. The system is oriented to operate on military vehicles, capable of detecting, tracking, identifying and neutralizing aerial targets.
The initial target of PANOPTES was Class 1 unmanned aerial vehicles, including single, simultaneous or continuous attacks to overload the defense system.
Notably, the MoD is particularly interested in laser-guided energy weapons. Unlike interceptor missiles, lasers do not use conventional ammunition, so they can be suitable for situations where it is necessary to continuously deal with cheap drones.
The development of PANOPTES takes place in the context of Western military forces increasingly focusing on the cost of air defense. Cheap unmanned aerial vehicles can be deployed in large numbers, while the use of expensive interceptor missiles for each target is at risk of quickly depleting weapons stockpiles.
MoD also requires the system to have an open architecture and modular design, allowing for upgrading sensors, command and control systems as well as combat equipment when threats change. The system is expected to use power supplied by military vehicles.
PANOPTES inherits technology from the British Army's ground-based laser-guided energy weapons demonstration program. In July 2024, the high-energy laser system led by Raytheon UK was installed on the Wolfhound armored vehicle and tested at the facilities of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in Porton Down. The system has neutralized targets at a distance of more than 1 km.
By December 2024, soldiers of the 16th Royal Artillery Regiment will continue to operate the laser system on the Wolfhound vehicle at the Radnor range. This is the first time the British Army has used high-energy lasers from armored vehicles to destroy aerial targets during testing.
According to the MoD, the laser system uses an infrared beam focused on the target, while sensors and tracking devices maintain the viewpoint. The previous demonstration system has the ability to track multiple targets and integrate with radar, surveillance and command systems.
Compared to the previous test program, PANOPTES sets higher goals when aiming for an integrated and automated anti-unmanned aerial vehicle system. This is especially important when having to deal with many targets appearing continuously in a short period of time.
He also considered the possibility of integrating the system into unmanned ground vehicles in the future. At that time, air defense systems can be deployed near the front lines without having to deploy many soldiers directly next to the vehicle.
