Airborne Laser Weapon For Tactical Aircraft Being Developed By Germany
Germany has launched a new effort to develop an airborne laser weapon. MBDA Deutschland has received a contract to build a pod-based demonstrator intended to lay the technological foundations that could lead to future directed-energy capabilities aboard Luftwaffe aircraft. The new contract is Germany’s first formal foray into airborne laser weapons, but builds on years of German investment and maritime laser weapon trials.
As we have explored in the past, translating that progress into a practical aircraft-mounted weapon presents a much greater engineering challenge. While hurdles apply to lasers in general, they are particularly acute in airborne applications.
PRESSEMITTEILUNG – MBDA ERHÄLT AUFTRAG FÜR AIRBORNE-LASER-DEMONSTRATOR VON BUNDESWEHR: MBDA in Deutschland hat vom @BaainBw einen Auftrag zum Bau eines Demonstrators für einen luftgestützten #Laser erhalten. Ziel ist es, die technologischen Grundlagen für zukünftige Laserwaffen… pic.twitter.com/OK2lzmwDur
— MBDA Deutschland (@MBDADeutschland) November 2, 2026
MBDA announced today that it had been contracted by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) to undertake the development effort. The project centers on a pod-based demonstrator system, with essential components already being designed.
According to MBDA, the longer-term objective is to develop an airborne laser capability that could be used to shoot down enemy drones and cruise missiles. There are other potential use cases, which we will come back to later on. An accompanying rendering also showed a pair of large, stealthy, fighter-like uncrewed aircraft with laser pods under the fuselage.
MBDA rendering showing large, stealthy, fighter-like uncrewed aircraft with laser pods under the fuselages. MBDA
The company described airborne laser development as the “supreme discipline” of laser weapon technology, citing the particularly demanding requirements for size, weight, and resistance to the stresses associated with flight.
The announcement provides few details about the demonstrator’s technical specifications, intended host aircraft, laser output, or anticipated development schedule. No contract value or timeline has been disclosed.
U.S. Air Force art depicting a future dogfight with laser weapons. U.S. Air Force
The airborne demonstrator builds on a longer-running German effort to develop directed-energy technology. According to MBDA, laser technology has been considered a strategic priority for German research and development since 2019. It is also designated a key national technology under the German government’s National Security and Defense Industry Strategy (SVI Strategy).
MBDA is a fairly well-established industrial partner in this effort, having worked on laser effectors and weapons for all branches of the German armed forces. The company also highlights substantial investments of its own in recent years, which it says have enabled it to advance the underlying technologies and build and test various demonstrators.
An existing domestic technology base could provide MBDA with a head start in developing the airborne system. Experience with laser sources, beam control, tracking, and thermal management could potentially be carried over into the laser pod.
MBDA’s airborne project builds on a substantial history of German laser weapon development. The company says it has been working on the necessary technologies since 2008, conducting successive demonstrations and technology trials. It claims to have demonstrated the functionality of a complete laser weapon system as early as 2012.
A particularly important milestone came through cooperation with Rheinmetall. In 2021, the two companies received a BAAINBw contract to develop a maritime laser weapon demonstrator for the German Navy. The system was subsequently installed aboard the F124 frigate Sachsen in June 2022 and underwent an extensive series of sea trials that continued until September 2023.
The MBDA/Rheinmetall maritime laser weapon demonstrator installed aboard the German Navy frigate Sachsen. Bundeswehr
During six test campaigns spanning nearly a year, the demonstrator conducted more than 100 test firings against different targets under increasingly complex conditions. The trials included tracking highly agile targets, integrating sensors and command systems, and engaging targets with the high-energy laser. A drone was also successfully shot down during a demonstration.
First live fire exercise of a laser weapon used by the German Navy. The Frigate “Sachsen” successfully shot down an UAV. pic.twitter.com/WG8AMfwhnw
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) October 28, 2022
MBDA subsequently continued developing more compact and modular laser weapon configurations, seeking to move beyond the container-based demonstrator used aboard Sachsen. In September 2024, MBDA and Rheinmetall signed a further cooperation agreement aimed at developing a marketable maritime laser weapon, particularly for countering drones.
However, there is a big difference between a maritime laser weapon demonstration and adapting that same technology to aircraft. The power, cooling, weight, vibration, volume, and aerodynamic constraints of airborne operations bring a very different set of engineering challenges.
The attraction of an airborne laser weapon lies in its ability to engage incoming threats without expending conventional missiles, offering a functionally unlimited magazine depth as long as there is available electrical power and cooling capacity. This could be particularly valuable when facing down large waves of drones and/or cruise missiles, which, as mentioned, are the primary targets MBDA is envisioning for a future podded airborne laser weapon.
The increasing proliferation of relatively inexpensive longer-range one-way attack drones is already driving particularly significant demand for new, lower-cost anti-air intercept options and greater magazine depth. The transformation of the 70mm laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rocket, originally designed for air-to-surface attacks, into<a href="https://www.twz.com/air/laser-guided-rocke
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