Germany tested a new weapon. Results are promising
In 2020, Germany began work on a high-energy laser weapon. The system was installed in the midship of the frigate "Sachsen". After three years, the tests were completed, which gave very promising results.
Oct 21, 2023 | updated: 7:05 AM EDT, October 25, 2023
Five years ago in Germany, a massive scandal broke out when the Ministry of Defense presented the condition of the Bundeswehr in an official report. It turned out that only one of the six submarines is in combat readiness. The situation was similar with the naval aviation and with investments in new weapons systems. Public opinion and politicians were outraged at the time. However, the Germans have a massive technological and production base and financial capabilities.
Just a year later, all submarines were combat-ready, and two years after that, new underground and aboveground units were ordered, including accelerated work on a missile destroyer. Weapon testing also began, previously operationally tested by only a few.
Germany as the first in Europe
In September 2020, the German Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with Rheinmetall Waffe Munition and MBDA to build a laser technology demonstrator. It was planned that the system would be tested for a year on board the missile frigate FGS "Sachsen" under realistic operational conditions.
This is not a novelty for Germans. In the years 2015-2016, the Deutsche Marine tested the early Skyshield HEL Effector technology demonstrator with a power of 30 kW in the Baltic Sea. At that time, land targets were attacked, and these were the first tests of this type carried out in Europe.
Then, significantly stronger maritime lasers of 100 kW power were tested, as well as lightweight land-based ones on armored transports and off-road vehicles.
After years of trials, Germany decided to install the first system on the "Sachsen" to be able to conduct comprehensive tests in conditions as close as possible to real combat conditions.
Laser ship
The laser system was installed on the midship of the "Sachsen" frigate, type 124. The ship's construction lasted just under five years. The vessel displaces about 6173 tons, which the gas turbine with power of about 44963 horsepower can accelerate to a speed of 33 knots.
The ship's main armament consists of a VLS Mk. 41 launcher with 32 positions designed for medium-range SM-2 IIIA or RIM-162 missiles. The air defense is supplemented by two RAM-116 missile launchers with 21 positions each. For direct defense, the ship has two automatic Mauser MLG 27 caliber 27 mm guns and a OTO-Melara, 76 mm caliber gun, and against enemy ships it has two Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers and two triple torpedo launchers.
The ship received laser weaponry somewhat accidentally. In June 2018, during exercises conducted beyond the Arctic Circle, an accident occurred, resulting in serious damage to the superstructure. According to information provided at the time by the German command, during a training launch of an SM-2 IIIA antiaircraft missile it incorrectly left the launcher and burned on the deck.
The ship was sent to the shipyard. During the renovation, it was decided to modernize the vessel and adapt it to carry a new type of weapon in the future, which ultimately happened three years later. In 2021, Rheinmetall produced a complex, carried out integration, which ended in June of the previous year, and later supervised the tests.
Long tests
The tests lasted almost a year and were divided into six blocks. They were conducted in Eckernförde Bay, in Schleswig-Holstein. First, shots were fired at a land measuring station. Then the ship went out to sea where detection and tracking of various types of targets were tested - from drones to rapid anti-ship missiles. During them, over a hundred trial shots were made.
Germany has developed rules for firing and cooperating with other ship systems. Tests have proven that laser weapons can currently complement artillery systems in combat against drones, small surface units, and maneuvering anti-ship missiles at close range.
The Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Support of the Armed Forces of Germany, which is responsible for overseeing the tests, announced that in the future the system might also be adapted to destroy supersonic rocket missiles, as well as artillery shells.
The tests were so satisfactory that MBDA and Rheinmetall have started preparations for the next phase of development and laser weapons may soon appear on currently planned units. Especially since the system could also be installed on auxiliary ships - tankers, reconnaissance ships or rescue ships.
The construction of the laser, which currently consists of 12 modules, allows for this, and the beams are combined into one using a dielectric grid. As a result, it is possible to build lasers five times more powerful than the ones tested by Germans, with power up to approximately 134.1 hp.
After years of underfunding, Germany has kick-started its efforts, and laser weapon tests are the "cherry on the cake", consisting of new submarines, missile destroyers, and F-35A jets, accentuated by a wing center factory. Berlin didn't take much to get back on the superpower track. Plus, they're doing this without going into debt.
