Този раздел е достъпен само на английски език.
For a long time DEW remained a promise: impressive trials, little use. Since 2024 that has been changing, driven by the drone war. Against hundreds of cheap drones, air defence missiles costing tens of thousands of euros or more apiece are not sustainable (Counter- UAS и дрон-EW). The overview below shows where the main programmes stand at the end of 2026. Claims by states or manufacturers without independent confirmation are marked as such.
| System | Country · type | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Beam | Israel · HEL (100 kW class) | First system delivered to the IDF in December 2025; according to Israeli reporting first used in early 2026 against drones and projectiles from Lebanon. Range up to ± 10 km. In poor visibility Iron Dome remains the main layer. |
| DragonFire | UK · HEL, naval | £316 million contract in November 2025, after trials against fast drones. First installation on a Type 45 destroyer planned for 2027, five years earlier than intended. |
| HELIOS | US · HEL (60 kW class), naval | On USS Preble since 2022, linked to the Aegis combat system. Shot down drones in trials in 2024 and 2025, four in a single trial. |
| DE M-SHORAD → E-HEL | US · HEL (50 kW) on Stryker, army | Four prototypes were tested in the Middle East in 2024; they struggled with power and cooling and were taken out of service in 2025. Successor E-HEL: modular lasers that fit a wide range of vehicles. |
| Apollo (EOS) | Netherlands · HEL (100 kW class) | €71.4 million order in 2025, delivery 2025–2028. In September 2026 a letter of intent followed for an operational counter-UAS system and possible production with a European supply chain. |
| Leonidas | US · HPM | Part of the US Army's IFPC-HPM programme. In a trial in August 2025 it disabled a swarm of 49 drones within seconds. |
| RapidDestroyer | UK · HPM (RF DEW) | In April 2025 the British Army brought down more than a hundred drones in its largest trial to date, including two swarms in a single engagement. Range ± 1 km; the cost per shot is in the order of pennies. |
| Tryzub | Ukraine · HEL | Still in testing. According to the developer, reconnaissance drones up to 1.5 km and FPV drones up to 800–900 m. Claims about aircraft above 2 km altitude have not been independently confirmed. |
| LY-1 | China · HEL, naval | Shown at the September 2025 parade, on a truck. Power and performance are not public; Chinese claims have not been independently confirmed. |
| Peresvet | Russia · laser | Announced since 2018, probably to dazzle satellite sensors (Space & SATCOM-EW). Performance unknown. |
Three lessons keep coming back. Power and cooling are the real limitation: the American lasers on Strykers ran into exactly that in the desert. Weather remains decisive: Israel too keeps Iron Dome as the main layer for poor visibility. And DEW is added, not substituted: lasers and HPM complement guns, interceptor drones and missiles in a layered defence (Counter- UAS и дрон-EW).