New laser weapon turns infantry into drone killers

The drone problem keeps getting worse, and the counter-drone industry is rushing to fill the gap. One new entry: a portable laser system small enough to mount on an infantry rifle, developed by Lyocon, a subsidiary of defense company NUBURU.

According to NUBURU's announcement and reporting by David Szondy at New Atlas, the Lyocon system uses a solid-state laser operating across multiple wavelengths — green, blue, and infrared — at power levels between one and 10 watts. At the upper end of that range, it can engage hostile drones at distances up to 500 meters, either dazzling their sensors or crashing them outright. The unit slots into a standard MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail mount, runs off high-density lithium-ion batteries carried in a modular vest or integrated into the rifle stock, and is designed to give frontline troops a non-kinetic answer to the growing threat from small commercial drones.

The strategic context is well-established at this point. Small, cheap unmanned aircraft have reshaped modern battlefields from Ukraine to the Middle East, and the counter-drone market is growing accordingly. NUBURU cited figures suggesting the global counter-UAS sector could expand from roughly $6.6 billion in 2025 to more than $20 billion by 2030. That's the prize companies are chasing.

Lyocon's approach is distinctive for its emphasis on blue wavelength output. Lasers in the blue part of the spectrum are more readily absorbed by common drone materials including metals and plastics, making them effective at lower power levels than infrared alternatives. The system's multi-wavelength architecture lets operators scale output and engagement style depending on the threat.

Heckler & Koch is listed as a development partner, handling ergonomic integration and ruggedization for combat use. Maddox Defense is working on scaling production and distributing through the U.S. Department of Defense supply chain, while Tekne S.p.a. handles electromagnetic compatibility to ensure the laser doesn't disrupt friendly communications or navigation systems. As of earlier this year, Lyocon had secured a contract valued at approximately $850,000 to produce 40 high-power 450nm blue laser systems, with delivery scheduled for Q1 2026 — the first structured production run under the company's reactivated Lyocon S.r.l. subsidiary.

"The successful completion of the POC confirms the robustness of the architecture we have engineered and the scalability of Lyocon's directed-energy platform," said Paola Zanzola, Executive Director of Lyocon, in NUBURU's announcement.

There is an obvious caveat that applies to most hardware at this stage: this is a proof-of-concept. No operational photos of the system have been released — only rendered images provided by Lyocon. Field reliability, battery life under combat conditions, and manufacturing scalability at meaningful volumes remain unproven. The $850K contract is a real data point, but 40 units is a far cry from mass deployment.

What makes this worth watching for builders and investors is the underlying bet: that directed-energy counter-drone systems will follow the same cost and miniaturization curve that made drones themselves ubiquitous. If the Lyocon architecture can scale — in power output, in production volume, in battery density — it addresses one of the structural problems with existing counter-drone options, which often rely on missiles, jamming, or nets that are expensive per shot or require dedicated platforms. A rifle-mounted laser with essentially unlimited ammunition (once the battery holds) would be a different kind of tool.

Whether NUBURU and Lyocon get there is an open question. But the POC is done, the supply chain partners are in place, and the market is screaming for exactly this kind of solution.

This article synthesizes reporting by David Szondy at New Atlas, with additional context from Interesting Engineering and NUBURU's investor relations announcement. Market sizing figures ($6.6B to $20B by 2030) are attributed to NUBURU's market communications as reported.