Ukraine Claims New Ground-Based Laser Can Shoot Down Drones

What Happened?

Ukraine’s military claims to have developed a new, mobile ground-based laser weapon capable of downing attack drones. The weapon system, known as Sunray, was developed by Pavlo Yelizarov, the newly appointed commander of Ukraine’s air-defense forces. ‘The anti-drone dome is not about the future,’ Ukraine’s new defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said last month. ‘It’s about survival today.’

While several other countries, including Israel, the U.S., and Britain, have anti-drone laser weapons systems, Ukraine’s was developed on a much smaller budget and appears to be less expensive to build, operate, and repair. 

Why it Matters

The war between Russia and Ukraine, which began in 2022, has seen drone warfare undergo a significant evolution in terms of capabilities and numbers. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces in 2025 indicated the majority of their combat casualties were the result of drone strikes from the enemy. As drones have increased in numbers, sophistication, and lethality, both sides have undertaken to develop anti-drone systems to protect their respective armies.

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Russia first began deploying the simplest anti-drone systems, consisting of nets or metal cages around equipment to prevent drones from reaching them. Ukraine quickly followed suit, but due to supply constraints and a more limited budget, the Ukrainian military was forced to innovate and put together off-the-shelf systems that were less expensive to build but also unproven in battle. During the war, Ukraine has tested and refined those systems into more capable versions, including Sunray.

If initial reports on Sunray are accurate, the system delivers a capability similar to far more sophisticated and costly laser systems developed by major defense industries in the United States and Israel. The Ukrainian system can be mounted in the back of an ordinary truck, and the laser itself is about the size of a telescope. Details on what kind of power or support system this laser requires are not yet publicly known, but initial reporting indicated that the device can easily be moved from place to place by vehicle.

Lasers provide some tactical advantages over conventional anti-drone systems. Conventional systems are limited by the number of missiles or ammunition they have, whereas lasers can keep firing as long as they have sufficient power. Lasers also move at the speed of light, making them faster than any missiles or bullets. Theoretically, a laser could fire an unlimited number of shots, making it superior to missile or bullet-based conventional systems. 

How it Affects You

Anti-drone lasers could boost defenses for military and government installations, but they could also pose a potential threat. If an anti-drone laser is powerful enough to down a full-sized aircraft, then they could be used to shoot down military or commercial planes with little or no warning. If laser weapons are aimed optically, then they won’t emit radar or other electronic signals, making them more difficult to detect by an opposing military force.

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