Within A Laser Can Be The Cheapest Shot In An Air Defence System, But The...
How Lasers Save Missiles for Later
A layered defence can use lasers against suitable drones first while preserving missiles for threats that need range or higher certainty.
On this page
- Why weapon choice is a sequence problem
- How low cost drones become laser first targets
- When the sequence skips straight to missiles
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Introduction
A layered air-defence system is not designed to use its most powerful weapon first. Instead, it allocates threats to the cheapest and most suitable defensive layer that can reliably defeat them. In modern concepts that include directed-energy weapons, this often means using lasers against vulnerable drones, loitering munitions and other low-cost aerial threats before spending scarce missile interceptors. The objective is not simply to save money. It is to preserve missile inventories, maintain defensive endurance during prolonged attacks and ensure that high-performance interceptors remain available for threats that lasers may not stop reliably. Recent military programmes in the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States increasingly describe lasers as an additional layer within integrated air defence rather than as a replacement for missiles. [RAND Corporation+2GAO]rand.orgIf the technology can be matured,RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m…
Why Weapon Choice Is a Sequence Problem
The key decision in layered defence is not whether a laser can destroy a target. It is whether the target can be destroyed by a laser without wasting an opportunity to use a more appropriate weapon later.
Air-defence commanders must manage several limited resources simultaneously:
- Missile inventories.
- Engagement time.
- Radar and sensor capacity.
- Electrical power and cooling capacity.
- Available firing opportunities before a threat reaches its target.
A missile fired at a small drone cannot be used later against a cruise missile. By contrast, a laser shot consumes electrical energy rather than a physical interceptor. This creates what defence planners often describe as a favourable cost-exchange ratio: inexpensive threats can be defeated without depleting expensive missile stocks. RAND notes that directed-energy weapons could relieve pressure on stretched munitions inventories by handling portions of the threat set that do not require kinetic interceptors. [RAND Corporation]rand.orgIf the technology can be matured,RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m…
The sequencing logic therefore becomes:
- Detect and classify the threat.
- Determine whether a laser has a reasonable probability of success.
- Use the laser if conditions are favourable.
- Reserve missiles for threats that exceed the laser’s effective envelope or require greater certainty.
This approach turns lasers into inventory-preservation tools as much as weapons. [RAND Corporation]rand.orgIf the technology can be matured,RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m…
How Low-Cost Drones Become Laser-First Targets
Small drones are the clearest example of why layered defence increasingly places lasers ahead of missiles.
Many military drones cost far less than the interceptor missiles traditionally used against them. Recent conflicts have highlighted the economic imbalance created when expensive air-defence missiles are used repeatedly against large numbers of low-cost unmanned aircraft. Analysts increasingly argue that this model becomes difficult to sustain during extended campaigns. [EPC]epc.euthe new economics of warfareThe new economics of warfare9 Mar 2026 — Invest heavily in cost-effective counter-drone technologies. Shooting multi-million-euro inte…
Lasers address this problem because they offer three characteristics that fit the drone threat particularly well:
Low engagement cost. Once a laser system is deployed, each shot primarily consumes electrical power rather than a manufactured interceptor. Governments and industry repeatedly highlight this as a major advantage against mass drone attacks. [RAND Corporation+2Reuters]rand.orgIf the technology can be matured,RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m…
Deep magazines. Missile launchers eventually run out of interceptors and must be reloaded. Laser systems can continue engaging as long as sufficient power and cooling are available. This makes them attractive against raids involving numerous drones. [Sentrycs]sentrycs.comDirected Energy Weapons (DEW)Directed Energy Weapons use electromagnetic energy to disable drones. Learn how HEL lasers and HPM s…
Suitable target characteristics. Small drones are often relatively slow, lightly built and vulnerable to damage of sensors, control surfaces, batteries or propulsion systems. These characteristics make them logical candidates for laser engagement when environmental conditions are favourable. [RTX]rtx.comHigh-Energy Lasers | RaytheonRaytheon's high-energy laser systems use photons, or particles of light, to carry out military missions a…
The result is a practical engagement sequence: the laser attempts to eliminate inexpensive drones first, while missile batteries remain ready for more difficult threats approaching at the same time.
What a Layered Engagement Looks Like in Practice
A modern defence network typically contains multiple defensive layers rather than a single weapon type.
An incoming raid might be handled in the following order:
- Electronic warfare attempts to disrupt navigation or communications.
- Lasers engage vulnerable drones within line of sight.
- Guns or close-range systems engage any surviving targets.
- Missiles are reserved for high-speed, longer-range or hardened threats.
This sequencing appears increasingly in counter-drone and integrated air-defence concepts. Technical analyses of layered counter-UAS (counter-unmanned aircraft system) architectures emphasise deliberate allocation of threats to different effectors rather than automatic missile use. [SSRN]papers.ssrn.comLayered Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS)…by A Rawat · 2026 — The central thesis of this paper is that a layered C-UAS archit…
The important point is that the laser is not expected to defeat every target. Its value comes from reducing the number of targets that reach the missile layer.
If a laser removes twenty drones from a raid before missile launchers become involved, the missile force can concentrate on the remaining threats that genuinely require kinetic interception.
When the Sequence Skips Straight to Missiles
The laser-first approach is conditional, not automatic.
There are situations where commanders may bypass the laser layer entirely and engage with missiles immediately.
High-consequence threats
A cruise missile, anti-ship missile or other critical threat may justify immediate missile engagement because the consequences of failure are too severe. Longer engagement ranges also provide additional opportunities for follow-up shots if the first intercept fails. [RAND Corporation]rand.orgIf the technology can be matured,RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m…
Targets beyond the laser envelope
Lasers are line-of-sight weapons and generally operate most effectively at shorter ranges than many missile systems. If a threat can be engaged well before it enters laser range, commanders often prefer to intercept it earlier. [GAO]gao.govScience & Tech Spotlight: Directed Energy Weapons25 May 2023 — Directed energy weapons (DEW) use concentrated electromagnetic energy t…
Poor atmospheric conditions
Rain, fog, dust and atmospheric turbulence can reduce laser effectiveness. In such conditions, commanders may place greater reliance on missiles or guns because their performance is less dependent on beam propagation through the atmosphere. [GAO+2ResearchGate]gao.govScience & Tech Spotlight: Directed Energy Weapons25 May 2023 — Directed energy weapons (DEW) use concentrated electromagnetic energy t…
Time-critical engagements
Some threats simply do not leave enough time for a laser dwell period—the time required to keep energy concentrated on a target long enough to cause damage. In these situations, the system may move directly to a kinetic interceptor. [ResearchGate]researchgate.netResearch Gate(PDF) Laser-Based Directed Energy Weapons This review aims to evaluate the current capabilities of laser-based Directed EnerResearchGate(PDF) Laser-Based Directed Energy WeaponsThis review aims to evaluate the current capabilities of laser-based Directed Energy…
Emerging Examples of Missile Conservation
Several current programmes illustrate the logic of spending laser shots before missile shots.
The United Kingdom’s DragonFire programme has focused heavily on defeating drones, including recent demonstrations against high-speed unmanned targets. British officials present the system as a way to counter threats that might otherwise consume more expensive interceptors. [GOV.UK]GOV.UKboost for armed forces as new laser weapon takes down high speed dronesBoost for Armed Forces as new laser weapon takes down…20 Nov 2025 — Britain's ground-breaking DragonFire laser has shot down high-spee…
Israel’s Iron Beam is being integrated into the country’s existing multi-layered air-defence architecture alongside Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow. The concept is not to replace those systems but to provide a low-cost engagement option against rockets, mortars and drones, allowing missile interceptors to be preserved for threats where they remain the better choice. [Reuters]reuters.comCo-developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems, Iron Beam is a high-power, ground-based laser designed to intercept ro…
Across NATO countries and the United States, discussions of air-base defence increasingly frame directed-energy weapons as arsenal-preservation tools. The goal is to prevent adversaries from exhausting missile inventories through large numbers of inexpensive drones and similar threats. [National Defense Magazine+2RAND Corporation]nationaldefensemagazine.orggovernment perspective directed energy in air base defense can save the arsenalcompanies are leading the way, from Raytheon's high-energy laser weapon systems to Lockheed Martin's high-energy laser with integrated…
The Real Value of the Laser Layer
The most important contribution of a laser in layered defence is not that it replaces missiles. It is that it changes how missiles are spent.
A defence force that fires missiles at every target risks exhausting expensive inventories during a prolonged campaign. A force that uses lasers against suitable drones first can preserve missile stocks, maintain endurance and keep its highest-performance interceptors available for the threats that truly require them. Modern directed-energy programmes are therefore increasingly judged not by whether they eliminate missiles, but by how effectively they allow missiles to be saved for later. [RAND Corporation+2National Defense Magazine]rand.orgIf the technology can be matured,RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m…
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Endnotes
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Source: rand.org
Title: If the technology can be matured,
Link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/01/directed-energy-the-focus-on-laser-weapons-intensifies.htmlSource snippet
RAND CorporationDirected Energy: The Focus on Laser Weapons IntensifiesJanuary 25, 2024 — 25 Jan 2024 — Directed energy weapons offer a m...
Published: January 25, 2024
-
Source: gao.gov
Link: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106717Source snippet
Science & Tech Spotlight: Directed Energy Weapons25 May 2023 — Directed energy weapons (DEW) use concentrated electromagnetic energy t...
Published: May 2023
-
Source: reuters.com
Link: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/israeli-anti-missile-laser-system-iron-beam-ready-military-use-this-year-2025-09-17/Source snippet
Co-developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems, Iron Beam is a high-power, ground-based laser designed to intercept ro...
-
Source: epc.eu
Title: the new economics of warfare
Link: https://www.epc.eu/publication/the-new-economics-of-warfare/Source snippet
The new economics of warfare9 Mar 2026 — Invest heavily in cost-effective counter-drone technologies. Shooting multi-million-euro inte...
-
Source: sentrycs.com
Link: https://sentrycs.com/glossary/directed-energy-weapons-dew/Source snippet
Directed Energy Weapons (DEW)Directed Energy Weapons use electromagnetic energy to disable drones. Learn how HEL lasers and HPM s...
-
Source: rtx.com
Link: https://www.rtx.com/raytheon/what-we-do/integrated-air-and-missile-defense/lasersSource snippet
High-Energy Lasers | RaytheonRaytheon's high-energy laser systems use photons, or particles of light, to carry out military missions a...
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Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403676537Laser-Based_Directed_Energy_Weapons_Technological_Capabilities_Material_Interaction_and_Strategic[DeploymentSource snippet
ResearchGate(PDF) Laser-Based Directed Energy WeaponsThis review aims to evaluate the current capabilities of laser-based Directed Energy...
-
Source: papers.ssrn.com
Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/6699039.pdf?abstractid=6699039&mirid=1Source snippet
Layered Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS)...by A Rawat · 2026 — The central thesis of this paper is that a layered C-UAS archit...
-
Source: GOV.UK
Title: boost for armed forces as new laser weapon takes down high speed drones
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-armed-forces-as-new-laser-weapon-takes-down-high-speed-dronesSource snippet
Boost for Armed Forces as new laser weapon takes down...20 Nov 2025 — Britain's ground-breaking DragonFire laser has shot down high-spee...
-
Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/401707891_Cost-Effectiveness_Analysis_of_Counter-Unmanned_Aircraft_Systems_Technologies_A_Comparative_Study_of_Kinetic_Electronic_Warfare_and_Directed_Energy_Countermeasures_2022-2026Source snippet
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Counter-Unmanned Aircraft...9 Mar 2026 — Results revealed that cost-per-engagement (CPE) varies by more t...
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Source: rand.org
Link: https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/02/directed-energy-dilemmas-industrial-implications-of.htmlSource snippet
Directed Energy Dilemmas: Industrial Implications of...20 Feb 2024 — Directed energy weapons (DEW) are part of a layered approach to int...
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Source: nationaldefensemagazine.org
Title: government perspective directed energy in air base defense can save the arsenal
Link: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2025/8/11/government-perspective-directed-energy-in-air-base-defense-can-save-the-arsenalSource snippet
companies are leading the way, from Raytheon's high-energy laser weapon systems to Lockheed Martin's high-energy laser with integrated...
Additional References
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Source: businessinsider.com
Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-militaries-used-to-missile-threat-can-struggle-drones-2026-5Source snippet
Small, low-cost drones fly at lower altitudes, making them hard to detect with radar systems designed for higher, faster, and larger thre...
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Source: des.mod.uk
Title: boost for armed forces as new laser weapon takes down high speed drones
Link: https://des.mod.uk/boost-for-armed-forces-as-new-laser-weapon-takes-down-high-speed-drones/Source snippet
Defence Equipment & SupportBoost for Armed Forces as new laser weapon takes down...20 Nov 2025 — Britain's ground-breaking DragonFire la...
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Source: lockheedmartin.com
Link: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/directed-energy.htmlSource snippet
Directed Energy | Lockheed MartinExperience the potential of our laser weapons and directed energy weapon technologies, providing afforda...
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Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/international/3-5-a-shot-vs-3m-patriot-how-high-energy-lasers-could-replace-missiles-against-iranian-attacks/articleshow/129548629.cmsSource snippet
With operational costs as low as $3.50 per shot, these lasers offer a significant financial advantage over conventional defense options l...
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Source: tomshardware.com
Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/100kw-iron-beam-laser-becomes-worlds-first-drone-defense-zapper-to-be-operationally-deployed-it-can-also-shoot-down-rockets-mortars-and-other-aerial-threatsSource snippet
The high-energy laser, developed through a collaboration of government, military, scientific, and commercial sectors, is intended to bols...
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Source: afrl.af.mil
Title: army partners with air forces [thor]({{ ‘thor/’ | relative_url }}) for base defense
Link: https://www.afrl.af.mil/News/Article/2512426/army-partners-with-air-forces-thor-for-base-defense/Source snippet
partners with Air Force's THOR for base defense23 Feb 2021 — THOR is a prototype directed energy weapon used to disable the electronics i...
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Source: coherentmarketinsights.com
Title: directed energy weapons in counter drone missile defense 3576
Link: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/blog/aerospace-and-defense/directed-energy-weapons-in-counter-drone-missile-defense-3576Source snippet
Directed Energy Weapons in CounterDrone Missile Defense4 May 2026 — The high-energy lasers that are being used to defeat any aerial threa...
Published: May 2026
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Source: defencefinancemonitor.com
Title: directed energy weapons in 20252035
Link: https://www.defencefinancemonitor.com/p/directed-energy-weapons-in-20252035Source snippet
Directed Energy Weapons in 2025–2035: Development...23 May 2025 — By 2030, DragonFire-derived lasers (potentially scaled to ~100 kW) cou...
Published: May 2025
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Source: drillanddefense.com
Link: https://drillanddefense.com/laser-weapons-the-new-layer-in-modern-air-defense/Source snippet
Laser Weapons: The New Layer in Modern Air DefenseLaser weapons are becoming part of modern air defense, especially against drones and lo...
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Source: drone-warfare.com
Link: https://drone-warfare.com/counter-uas/drone-defeat/Source snippet
Counter-UAS 101 – Drone Defeat and Kinetic MitigationThat effort spans gun-based systems firing programmable airburst munitions at $150–7...
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