French Navy to test new WALL-E laser turret that kills enemy drones

The French navy is about to begin testing on a new laser defense system named HELMA. It's designed to bring down enemy drones.

@JakConnorTT

Published Jul 27, 2021 4:06 AM CDT
Updated Aug 25, 2021 6:44 PM CDT

40 seconds read time

Drones have fast become one of the newest forms of surveillance and weapons for military personnel.

Naturally, when a weapon is developed, defense against the weapon is developed as well. Introducing, HELMA-P, a new turret system that uses lasers to knock drones out of the sky. HELMA-P stands for High Energy Laser for Multiple Applications - Power, and as noted by Interesting Engineering, it resembles a one-eyed WALL-E.

However, I don't believe its intentions are as pure or kind-hearted as WALL-E's as HEMLA-P is designed to take out drones with its lasers. HEMLA-P is equipped with optical sensors that give it the ability to track drones mid-air, and two-kilowatt lasers that are designed to destroy them. During its testing, HELMA-P successfully shot down 37 drones with 100% accuracy. The new system was developed by two French companies, CILAS, and Ariane Group.

According to the companies, HELMA-P has a range of 0.62 miles, which is three to four times the range of current anti-drone systems.

French Navy to test new WALL-E laser turret that kills enemy drones 02

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NEWS SOURCE:interestingengineering.com

Jak Connor

Jak joined the TweakTown team in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms. Instead of typical FPS, Jak holds a very special spot in his heart for RTS games.