Lasers in modern warfare: evolving threats
and countermeasures

By Dr Chris Burgess, co-Founder & CEO of Sentinel Photonics

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Lasers play an increasingly pivotal role in modern warfare. They offer unparalleled precision and effectiveness from guiding weaponry to finding optics, enhancing communication and eavesdropping.

But they also present significant risks.

In the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian military commanders estimate that artillery has caused over 80% of casualties on both sides (Reuters1). In particular, Russia has successfully deployed laser-guided artillery driven by drones that allow artillery units to engage targets with exceptional accuracy while staying several kilometres behind the front line.

Lasers and their proliferation

At its core, a laser is simply a concentrated beam of light. But its utility lies in allowing incredibly accurate, well-defined, long-range point-to-point applications.

From precisely identifying a target over long distances to covertly transmitting information to seeing in the dark, lasers provide a richer picture of the battlespace.

As the cost of laser diodes has steadily decreased, driven by commercial applications like CDs, DVDs and, more recently, autonomous vehicles, their use in military scenarios has proliferated. This affordability expanded their use in the battlespace, providing richer intelligence. But it has also led to more nefarious, potentially life-threatening uses.

While soldiers have adopted lasers in dozens of ways across the battlefield, some uses are less known and incredibly harmful.

The cat's eye: Retroreflection

Today, anyone in the battlespace using magnified optics is susceptible to being located and engaged via laser systems - even if they are covert operators in full protective wear.

Retroreflection, or the "cat's eye effect," occurs when light bounces directly back to its source. This phenomenon can inadvertently reveal the position of snipers, anti-tank teams and other covert operators.

Laser devices that exploit retroreflection can detect a range of covert military optical systems - such as rifle optics, night vision goggles, thermal cameras, vehicle periscopes and binoculars - making even the most well-concealed positions vulnerable.

Laser finding and target designation

Laser range finders are integrated into a growing range of battlespace targeting systems, and are used to provide precise targeting information by accurately measuring the range to a target. In some modern rifle optics like the one used on the Next Generation Squad Weapon, the laser automatically ranges the target and instantly adjusts the crosshair to take into account the bullet's trajectory.

Laser target designators are used to illuminate a target to allow a missile or artillery round to home in on the "splash". The munition follows the splash to accurately strike every time, reducing collateral damage and ensuring a first-time hit. A sinister tactic that has emerged from the Russia-Ukraine conflict is the use of laser-guided suicide drones, adapted to allow long range, unjammable and deadly accurate targeting.

Countering the threat: Sentinel Photonics

The rise of such nefarious use of lasers has necessitated the development and rapid deployment of advanced technologies to counter laser-based threats.

Sentinel Photonics, born out of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), is a UK-based laser detection and protection specialist. Its team has over two decades of experience in laser systems, optics and threats. It manufactures state-of-the-art laser detectors and filter systems and provides consultancy to mitigate the latest laser threats.

To succeed in the modern battlefield - where lasers play such a key role in warfare - defence teams must have a real time understanding of what systems the enemy is using and how these lasers might threaten their optics. With that threat data, which Sentinel calls laser intelligence (LasINT), it's possible to use the enemy's laser signatures and signals against them.

Some of Sentinel's key products that facilitate LasINT, include:

Protection: FROST

Developed within the UK MoD by experts with firsthand experience of battlespace laser threats, FROST protective filters affix to the end of optics to mitigate the cat's eye or retroflection risk. They prevent optics from being detected via laser illumination, ensuring the safety of users and their equipment.

FROST filters prevent adversaries from detecting optics through retroreflection. These filters, which can be retrofitted to a wide range of optics using standard mounting threads, provide laser protection and counter-surveillance capabilities. Tested rigorously by international special forces, FROST ensures operators remain undetectable in the face of advanced laser systems.

Detection: LASERD

Laser signal event recording devices - LASERD® - detect and decode laser threats in real-time, providing actionable intelligence and operational advantage.

LASERD Micro is a small laser warning system designed to alert military users to the threat to life from laser radiation associated with designators and range finders. Its low size, weight and power mean it's small enough to wear, carry, attach to webbing, or attach to a light vehicle.

If a wearer is splashed or is within a 50-meter radius of a splash, LASERD Micro detects imminent danger - rejecting clutter such as civilian lasers - and immediately warns the wearer. The typical time from when a laser is first placed on a target to impact is 10-30 seconds, allowing enough time for soldiers to take action, significantly increasing their survivability.

Identifying data from the laser target designator and therefore the missile can help protect coalition troops. Sentinel can decode the laser's data, which is vital to countering the current and next generation of laser-guided threats.

By harvesting and understanding LasINT, Sentinel can help prevent blue-on-blue incidents, where troops accidentally target friendly forces. If a team unintentionally range-finds or splashes their own troops, the laser operator and the troops will both receive an alert warning them to mitigate the danger. This is possible because LASERD Micro is networkable through existing battlespace C2 application software, like ATAK. By distributing laser warning cues, fratricide can be avoided.

Proven and robust

Many of the customers Sentinel now supports already had some laser filter countermeasures in the past. However, in almost every case, there were weaknesses in those solutions because not all vendors completely understand the threats and the changing threat landscape.

In one instance, a special forces group believed they had a protected optic, and the Sentinel team located it in just 10 seconds using a recent adversary's laser threat, which used a different type of optic that wasn't expected.

This is why Sentinel's deep experience in the field and robust testing can put defence teams in the strongest position to thwart laser detection threats.

All of its solutions, including LASERD Micro and FROST, have been rigorously tested, including with the UK's MoD and various other international special forces groups around the world.

The future of laser warfare

As lasers continue to proliferate, they offer adversaries significant tactical advantages. Sentinel Photonics is actively developing next-generation solutions to stay ahead in this evolving landscape. The company's emphasis on understanding laser physics, optics and enemy capabilities ensures its products remain at the forefront of LasINT and counter-laser technology.

The incremental nature of the arms race between laser technology and countermeasures underscores the need for continuous innovation. That's why Sentinel will soon launch the next-generation LASERD® MAX device, an all-in-one laser warning and intelligence-gathering platform.

Conclusion

The rapid adoption of lasers in the battlespace underscores the urgency of addressing their associated threats. Without effective countermeasures, adversaries gain a decisive edge, able to locate and target forces with devastating precision. Companies like Sentinel Photonics are crucial in this fight, providing the tools and expertise necessary to navigate the complexities of laser warfare and ensure operational advantage.

For more information or to get in touch to find out how Sentinel Photonics could help your team, contact Sentinel Photonics.

1 https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ukraine-crisis-artillery/

For more information please visit:
https://sentinelphotonics.co.uk