The Atlantic: Ukraine Develops Sunray Laser Air Defense System

Ukraine is currently testing a homegrown laser weapon designed to shoot down Russian drones.

According to The Atlantic, Ukrainian engineers developed a new system, called Sunray, in response to a shortage of air defense missiles and the increasing number of large-scale kamikaze drone attacks.

The project took around two years to complete.

Sunray can destroy small aerial targets by using a concentrated laser beam to burn through a drone’s body or disable its electronics.

According to the developers, the Sunray laser operates almost silently and does not require expendable ammunition.

The system is compact and can be mounted on a pickup truck or other light vehicle, enabling quick repositioning.

The cost of developing the Sunray prototype is estimated at several million dollars, while a production model is expected to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, significantly less than modern surface-to-air missile systems.

A shortage of traditional air defense systems drives the development of laser weapons in Ukraine.

Western partners are not always able to supply the necessary number of missiles, and using expensive interceptors against large numbers of cheap drones is considered economically inefficient.

Laser systems are considered a promising component of a layered air defense network, primarily for countering short-range kamikaze drones and reconnaissance UAVs.

Meanwhile, the article notes that the technology is still being refined and requires resolving several technical and organizational issues, particularly the integration into a unified air defense command-and-control system.

If the trials are successful, Ukraine could become one of the few countries in the world to deploy laser weapons in real combat conditions as a means of countering drones.

In April 2025, the Unmanned Systems Forces demonstrated the operation and disclosed the capabilities of the Ukrainian Tryzub laser system for the first time.

The military claims that this laser can destroy attack drones, guided bombs, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles at distances of up to 3,000 meters, and helicopters, aircraft, and reconnaissance drones at distances of up to 5,000 meters.