New Turkish drone can destroy bombs with laser beam

Turkey is developing a drone that can disarm bombs with a laser beam. Turkey has developed a laser beam bomb disposal drone capable of burning through carbon steel.

The unmanned aircraft will be used by the army once all the tests are completed. The Eren drone is designed to destroy bombs and other munitions by hovering up to 3,000 meters above the ground, Anadolu news agency reported.

The aircraft is “capable of neutralising explosive devices with the involvement of deminers on the ground”, said Aykut Eroglu, a senior police official.

Eroglu said that in one test, Eren’s laser beam drilled a hole in a three-millimetre carbon steel plate from a distance of 500 metres in 90 seconds. He added that the drone needed just 10 seconds to do the same while hovering 100 metres from the target.

The drone was developed by the country’s state defence technology agency TUBITAK and the Turkish company Asisguard. It was unveiled at an expo in Konya in October and will be taken over by the army after all testing is completed, Anadolu reports.