Israeli firm claims new laser cuts counter-drone costs by 75%

An Israeli defense firm is preparing to show off a laser weapon at Eurosatory later this month that can burn through a drone in under two seconds while drawing only a fraction of the power that comparable directed-energy systems require.

Esh-Tech, a laser-focused defense technology company based in Omer, Israel, announced DroneLight on June 3, ahead of its debut at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris, scheduled for June 15–19. The system is a pulsed-laser hard-kill counter-drone weapon designed to mount on standard military vehicles, operate on roughly 4 kilowatts (kW) of power, and neutralize aerial threats in one to two seconds. The company says it is already undergoing customer evaluations in multiple markets worldwide.

Explosive-laden first-person-view drones have transformed ground combat over the past several years, particularly in Ukraine, where both sides have fielded them by the tens of thousands. Conventional countermeasures such as electronic jamming, kinetic interceptors, and net-based systems each carry limitations in cost, effectiveness against swarming threats, or collateral risk in populated areas. Directed-energy weapons have long promised a cleaner solution, but the power and infrastructure demands of earlier high-energy laser systems kept them anchored to fixed installations or large dedicated platforms, out of reach for dispersed ground units operating at the tactical edge.

DroneLight’s central technical claim is that it solves the power problem through a different physical approach. Rather than burning a target continuously with a sustained beam, which is how conventional continuous-wave laser systems work, DroneLight fires short, extremely high-intensity pulses. Each pulse drills into the drone’s surface through a process of rapid material ablation, effectively punching through critical components without needing the prolonged dwell time that continuous-wave systems require. Esh-Tech says the result is target neutralization in one to two seconds, compared to more than 15 seconds for legacy continuous-wave designs, and the system supports an engagement rate of up to 5Hz, which the company translates to approximately 30 neutralizations per minute — a rate the company says is designed to address drone swarm scenarios.

Most fielded military laser systems capable of hard-kill effects consume 20 kW or more, which typically requires dedicated generators or heavily modified vehicle power systems. The U.S. Army’s High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator has operated at between 10 and 60 kW depending on configuration, and Raytheon’s High Energy Laser weapon has been tested at 50 kW and above. At approximately 4 kW, DroneLight sits in a radically different power envelope, one that Esh-Tech says makes it compatible with the electrical systems already found in standard military vehicles, eliminating the need for heavy dedicated power infrastructure. Whether that claim holds across the full range of military vehicle types will likely be among the first things customers probe in the ongoing evaluations.

The system covers a 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) defensive radius with 360-degree engagement capability and single-operator functionality. It incorporates automatic target tracking and synchronized pulsed modules designed to maintain consistent performance under real operational conditions. Esh-Tech also highlights two characteristics it says make DroneLight particularly suited to urban operations: a narrow field of view and the absence of side lobes, the technical term for energy that scatters beyond the intended beam path. In a dense urban environment where unintended laser exposure to bystanders or infrastructure is a serious concern, both properties reduce the risk of collateral effects, and the system’s extremely short dwell time on target further limits the surrounding environment’s exposure to laser energy.

The cost argument may be as significant as the performance claims. Esh-Tech says DroneLight is priced at approximately 25 percent of what legacy continuous-wave laser systems cost. If accurate, that pricing shift changes the calculus for how widely militaries could deploy laser-based counter-drone protection. High unit cost has historically concentrated directed-energy systems at fixed strategic sites or flagship platforms. A system priced at a fraction of the norm could push laser protection down to individual vehicle level, distributed across a larger number of units in the field rather than concentrated at a handful of defended points.

“By combining high effectivity with very low energy consumption and a cost structure that is dramatically lower than traditional laser systems, we enable armed forces to deploy effective hard-kill protection at scale, not just at select strategic sites,” Esh-Tech CEO Erez Riahi said. “Our pulsed-laser architecture delivers interception within seconds, giving maneuvering forces the speed and operational flexibility they require on today’s battlefield.”

Esh-Tech describes itself as a developer of advanced laser-based defense technologies focused on agile, scalable, and operationally proven solutions. The company is headquartered in Omer, in southern Israel, and will present DroneLight at Eurosatory from June 15 to 19, 2026.