Active Conflicts & News Megathread August 25, 2025

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[u/Fatalist_m]

I think it's not worth building such a system just to try and blind a drone. If you have a detection system and a turret that can precisely target a drone with a laser, then you already have the most complicated parts of a kinetic anti-drone system. You might as well put a machine gun on it, or a powerful laser that can damage the drone. A Chinese laser has been used by Russians to shoot down drones, Ukrainians are also working on such a laser, but it remains to be seen if it's a cost-effective solution. IMO blinding sensors can be more of a secondary function, for example, if you have a laser that can destroy drones at 2km distance, it can probably blind a recon drone at a much longer distance.

[u/teethgrindingaches → u/Fatalist_m]

it remains to be seen if it's a cost-effective solution

Lasers are extremely cost-effective compared to guns or missiles, which is why they've been adopted by the PLA in far higher numbers. Drawbacks like range and rate of fire can be mitigated by using lots of them in conjunction with more sophisticated alternatives. But there's a lot of value in having a cheap platform you can push down to maneuver units, and unmanned versions are even more attritable.

[u/Fatalist_m → u/teethgrindingaches]

Cost per engagement is very low but I don't know how much do the systems themselves cost.

[u/teethgrindingaches → u/Fatalist_m]

Even the infamously penny-pinching PLAGF—something of a running joke—bought a gazillion of them.