TOKYO: Japan’s Defense Ministry is planning to test the use of laser to counter drones, it has been learned.
Under the plan, a laser system will be installed on vehicles of the Ground Self-Defense Force, including high mobility vehicles, and tests on its response capabilities will be conducted, sources familiar with the matter said.
In March, the ministry signed a contract to buy laser to be mounted on GSDF high mobility vehicles from Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. for about 1.5 billion yen and a 1.9-billion-yen deal to purchase laser for trucks from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
In February, the ministry concluded a deal with Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corp. on the purchase of a radar system to be used for the search of drones.
The ministry will make by the end of March 2026 a prototype of a laser system to be mounted on vehicles. Later, the GSDF will conduct tests to check the system’s abilities to track and destroy drones, and operation procedures, according to the sources.
High mobility vehicles are used at GSDF infantries across the country for a variety of purposes including transporting personnel.
The ministry plan is based on the government’s three national security-related documents, including one on defense buildup for fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2027, which calls for beefing up the country’s response capabilities against drones.
“We want to introduce the laser system at an early time also by utilizing advanced technologies held by the private sector,” a ministry official said.
Separate from the project, the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency, an affiliate of the ministry, is conducting research on a higher-quality laser system.
“Outcomes from the research have been shared (by divisions) at the ministry, including the GSDF,” the ministry official said, adding that they will be utilized in the designing and production of related systems.
The laser projects come after a video of the Maritime SDF’s Izumo large destroyer apparently taken by a drone while the ship was docked at the MSDF’s Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, spread on social media.
Videos of a U.S. aircraft carrier and an Aegis ship at the U.S. Navy’s Yokosuka base, believed to have been taken by drones, were also posted on social media.
JIJI Press