Footage circulating in Russian pro-military channels this week shows what is claimed to be a Russian laser weapon system engaging aerial drones, according to a Russian military blogger who described the video as an "exclusive." The blogger's post claimed several
Lasers massively lose efficiency over distance because the light spreads with distance. They’re horrible for long range targeting.
Shotguns lose efficiency over distances even faster.
That’s why there are shells which explode at a certain distance. But yes the general issue here is range. Shotguns are close range and cheap. Lasers are close range and expensive.
They are using them right now, so clearly not that terrible for this use case. Even when you have loss of efficiency, if you’re hooked up to the power grid, you can amplify the power enough for it to be effective. And it’s going to be cheaper than producing interceptor missiles and drones that have to be physically produced, stored, and distributed.
It’s not about power efficiency. Lasers require focussing a lot of light at one certain point. But the further the distance the more the light spreads. That’s just physics. Communicating with lasers isn’t the same as burning stuff with them.
Lasers are also utterly doomed when the sky isn’t clear because mist and clouds can fracture the concentrated light
As for intercepting missiles: If you’ve seen the speed at which hypersonic missiles come down you’ll find a laser doesn’t have much time to burn it.
Israel has been bragging about their epic laser tech for multiple years now yet they’re still firing interceptors. A laser might be able to defend one single static target in a 1km range from drones but not a whole border. And swarm tactics can still overwhelm the laser and just destroy it