Sentinel Photonics sets a new standard in confronting laser threats

By Jackson White, Chief Commercial Officer, at Sentinel Photonics

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The rising complexity of laser threats

The laser threat environment has expanded sharply over the past decade. Today, both militaries and non-state actors field a wide spectrum of systems, ranging from laser-based acoustic listening devices to laser-guided munitions. As hardware becomes smaller and cheaper, it's increasingly easy to bolt these capabilities onto uncrewed platforms. A drone equipped with a laser seeker can scan for optics autonomously and cue an effector in seconds, for instance.

Conventional countermeasures struggle to keep pace with this rapid evolution, and those designed for historical threats quickly become obsolete, leaving soldiers exposed to newly emerging laser threats. For dismounted soldiers, optical systems that enhance situational awareness, such as weapon sights, thermal imagers, scopes and binoculars, can become unintended beacons if their adversaries have the right equipment. These laser-based sensors can probe optics from long distances, revealing a soldier's position with no trace, and when integrated with automated targeting systems, those detections can result in immediate adversary action.

What was once a technical nuisance has become a survivability problem. Protection against them is now crucial. Yet the threat is complex, dynamic, and poorly understood outside specialist communities. Countering it requires advanced technologies and a deep understanding of the laser landscape.

The emergence of LasINT

Laser intelligence, or LasINT, is the systematic collection and analysis of real laser activity: what systems are being used, how they behave and how fast they are evolving. By examining wavelengths, pulse patterns and modes of deployment, militaries can plot enemy tactics and identify weaknesses in legacy defences.

LasINT focuses on collecting, characterising, and interpreting real-world laser activity, building a granular understanding of what systems are in use and how they behave.

Sentinel Photonics is one of the only organisations globally with deep LasINT expertise. Our heritage in laser science gives us a detailed picture of the modern threat environment. We continuously track global laser developments, analysing everything from wavelength choices and pulse patterns to emerging delivery platforms. These insights are drawn from real measured data, not assumptions. They allow us to identify the vulnerabilities in legacy countermeasures and anticipate where adversaries are likely to go next.

This intelligence directly shapes our protective technologies. By feeding LasINT data into engineering programmes, we ensure that our solutions address both current and near-future risks. During evaluations it allows us to demonstrate how easily new or unexpected threats can penetrate current systems. Customers regularly see first-hand how advanced interrogation lasers exploit weak spots in their existing defences and how fast those gaps can be closed with the right protective measures.

Introducing LASERD MAX

In September 2025, we introduced LASERD MAX, the world's first small-form-factor laser intelligence sensor that combines laser warning with LasINT collection. It's the latest evolution of Sentinel Photonics' detection technology, designed from the outset using real-world LasINT data. It represents a new standard in safeguarding soldiers from laser-based detection and targeting, offering comprehensive protection.

LASERD MAX is an advanced LasINT system that gives operators real-time situational awareness of unknown laser threats. Designed for high-tempo, high-threat operations, LASERD MAX delivers persistent, autonomous laser detection up to 10km across the visible and non-visible laser spectrum. Its low SWaP means it's easy to use by dismounted troops and rapid deployable teams, enabling them to passively map, log, and analyse laser activity in real time, even in complex or contested EW environments.

By monitoring incoming laser energy, it identifies threat signatures and instantly protects the connected optical system. This prevents adversaries from retrieving optical reflections or using the device's optics as a detection point.

LASERD MAX is engineered for adaptability. Its design reflects the breadth of laser types used on today's battlefield, allowing it to defeat multiple wavelengths, variable pulse formats, and new interrogation behaviours captured through LasINT. As laser threats evolve, the system specification can be updated, a crucial advantage in an environment where threat iteration cycles are shortening.

Real-world verification and resilience

The development of LASERD MAX has been guided by the same principle that underpins all of Sentinel's work: protect soldiers against what exists in the field, not just what exists in theory. The system has been validated against a broad suite of laser threat platforms, drawn from both commercial and military sources. These tests include advanced detection and mapping systems newly emerging on the market, enabling LASERD MAX to prove its resilience against the threats soldiers may face.

This level of verification is only possible because Sentinel has both the laboratory capability and the operational insight needed to reproduce real threat conditions. Our engineers design protective measures informed by a continuously updated map of global laser activity. As new systems appear, their signatures are captured and analysed and the findings feed directly into product updates. With LASERD MAX, users benefit from a protective device and an intelligent ecosystem that keeps their system up to date.

Enabling survivability in the laser-enabled battlespace

Laser threats will continue to grow as modern forces adopt more electro-optical tools and as adversaries exploit the low-cost and accessibility of modern lasers. From drone-borne sensors to next-generation target acquisition platforms, the use of lasers in reconnaissance and engagement will only expand.

Protection must evolve accordingly. With LASERD MAX, the Sentinel systems are built on unrivalled laser intelligence, engineered for modern operational realities, and designed to keep soldiers safe from one of the most insidious and fast-moving threats on the battlefield. In an age defined by data and precision, survivability increasingly hinges on denying the enemy information. Sensors that detect and adapt to laser activity will be central to the dismounted soldier's operational advantage.

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