Counter-UASIn service

Raytheon HELWS

Vehicle-mounted high-energy laser · RTX Raytheon · US

High-Energy Laser Weapon System mounted on light tactical vehicles, pairing a multi-kilowatt laser with an electro-optical tracker for precision drone defeat. Deployed operationally by the US Air Force for overseas base defense evaluations.

Specifications

Effect

Raytheon HELWS — Effect
Specification	Value
Method	High-energy laser, 10 kW class (public)
Engagement	Precision burn-through of small drones at short range

Raytheon HELWS — Detection
Specification	Value
Sensors	Integrated EO/IR tracker with radar cueing option

Full spec sheet

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Counters

Defeated by

No counter-links recorded yet.

What it counters

UAVIR

Shahed-136 (Geran-2)

Loitering munition (one-way attack)

Range: 2000 km class (public est.)
Speed: 185 km/h
Ceiling: 4000 m class
Warhead mass: 40 kg class

Compare

Raytheon HELWS vs US Army DE M-SHORAD

The US has pursued vehicle-mounted laser counter-drone defense on two tracks: a light 10 kW-class system and a 50 kW Stryker variant. Comparing them shows the power-aperture trade between deployability today and multi-threat capability tomorrow.

Sources

Every entry is verified against at least two independent sources before it ships.