The Wire · live GRID-REF 37°47′N 122°25′W
DISPATCH 03/26 · 8 Sep 2026
BattlePolicy
Startup to front line. Strategy to consequence.
Tag

directed-energy

7 articles
2
USAPro

Joint Laser Weapon System

A US programme to develop tactical, containerised 500 kW laser weapons for defeating cruise missiles and uncrewed aerial systems.

3
USAPro

Epirus Leonidas

Epirus Leonidas is a short-range, solid-state high-power microwave weapon designed to disable groups and swarms of uncrewed aircraft through one-to-many electronic attack.

4
EuropePro

DragonFire

Britain's drone-frying laser — a directed-energy weapon that burns aerial targets out of the sky for about £10 a shot, accurate enough to hit a £1 coin at a kilometre. After a 2024 high-power trial it won a £316m deal to arm Royal Navy destroyers from 2027.

5
RussiaPro

Peresvet

Russia's mobile laser — unveiled in Putin's 2018 "super-weapons" speech, named for a warrior-monk — built to dazzle reconnaissance-satellite sensors and hide mobile ICBMs from orbit. Fielded since 2019, but almost everything about it is a Russian claim experts treat with caution.

6
IsraelPro

Iron Beam

Israel’s first operational high-power laser air-defense system — a 100 kW directed-energy weapon designed to intercept rockets, mortar bombs and drones at a fraction of the cost of kinetic interceptors, now woven into the Iron Dome network.

7
USAPro

Stryker

The Stryker family of wheeled 8×8 armored vehicles — the backbone of US Army Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, fielded since 2002 and exported to Ukraine, with variants from base troop carrier to 30 mm Dragoon and counter-drone directed-energy platforms.