The ALKA

directed-energy weapon A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include we ...

(DEW) system is a Turkish dual electromagnetic/laser weapon developed by

Roketsan Roketsan Roket Sanayii ve Ticaret A.S. is a major Turkish weapons manufacturer and defense contractor based in Ankara, Turkey. Incorporated in 1988 by Turkey's Defense Industry Executive Committee (''SSİK'') to establish the nation's industri ...

. It was first unveiled at the 2019

IDEF IDEF, initially an abbreviation of ICAM Definition and renamed in 1999 as Integration Definition,IEEE Standard for Functional Modeling Language—Syntax and Semantics for IDEF0, Software Engineering Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Soci ...

exhibition on 8 May 2019. This combat laser was allegedly used to destroy one of GNC's

Wing Loong II The Chengdu GJ-2, also known as Wing Loong 2, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group in the People's Republic of China. Intended for use as a sur ...

UAVs An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

; if true, this would represent the first known time a vehicle-mounted combat laser was used to destroy another combat vehicle during genuine wartime conditions.

History

It was reported in 2010s that various Turkish organizations like TÜBİTAK SAGE and Aselsan had been working on tactical lasers and some had achieved success in both 2015 and 2018 prior to the unveiling of ALKA directed-energy weapon. According to ROKETSAN official Prof.Uğur Kayasal the weapon was developed in response to the increase of

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

attacks on Turkish forces.

ROKETSAN Roketsan Roket Sanayii ve Ticaret A.S. is a major Turkish weapons manufacturer and defense contractor based in Ankara, Turkey. Incorporated in 1988 by Turkey's Defense Industry Executive Committee (''SSİK'') to establish the nation's industri ...

spent five years making the directed energy weapon system and spent the last two years of the developmental period to make the system road-mobile. On 4 August 2019 an ALKA DEW mounted on an off-road armored car shot down a Chinese

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

Misrata Misrata ( ; also spelled Misurata or Misratah; ar, مصراتة, Miṣrāta ) is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated to the east of Tripoli and west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With a ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

Characteristics

The ALKA DEW is claimed to have a power of 50 kW. It operates both laser and electromagnetic systems. It purportedly uses

automatic target recognition Automatic target recognition (ATR) is the ability for an algorithm or device to recognize targets or other objects based on data obtained from sensors. Target recognition was initially done by using an audible representation of the received signal ...

utilizing both

electro-optical Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the prop ...

and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

detection to track multiple targets simultaneously. It is claimed by its designers to have the capability to disable a swarm of

drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

at a range of 4000 m, destroy a target with laser at 500 m distance and destroy a target at 1000 m distance with electromagnetic weapons. According to the designers, it can track targets at speeds as high as 150 km/h and track targets with precision of 8 mm at 1000 m distance. It can purportedly operate in both night and day time and on multiple platforms, both stationary and mobile. It has allegedly been used both against

IEDs An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

and

s in multiple environments.

References

{{reflist Directed-energy weapons Roketsan products Weapons of Turkey Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2019 Science and technology in Turkey Military lasers