A TOI report stated way back in 2020 that DRDO was developing Star wars like weapon that is Directed Energy Weapon (DEW), under which a new variant of Air Defence Fire Control Radar (ADFCR) for an unknown Directed Energy Weapon is being developed by DRDO. ADFCR will mount on a 6×6 High Mobility Vehicle. All the subsystems will be Integrated into the vehicle.

Detection range of new ADFCR is desired to be 20km for RCS ≥ 0.1m² & 8km for RCS ≥ 0.01m². This ADFCR can work in ECM environments & can provide positional data of jammers , with the position data we can destroy jammers in counter attack . This variant of ADFCR can track UAVs, Aircrafts, helicopters, sudden popping up targets etc.

It is unsure about which DEW is being used in association with ADFCR. Possibly 100 KW. or30 Kw Aditya DEW.

It is further reported, the national program will have short, medium and long-term goals, with the eventual aim being to develop different DEW variants of up to 100 kilowatt power, in collaboration with the domestic industry, sources said.

The DRDO has been working on several DEW projects for long, ranging from ‘chemical oxygen iodine’ and ‘high-power fibre’ lasers to a secretive ‘Kali’ particle-beam weapon for ‘soft-kills’ against incoming missiles and aircraft.

But they are nowhere near becoming operational. The need for a focussed approach on DEWs has now gained urgency amid the ongoing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh.

DRDO has so far developed two anti-drone DEW systems, which will now be productionised in large numbers with the help of the industry. While one is a trailer-mounted DEW, with a 10 kilowatt laser to engage aerial targets at 2-km range, the other is a compact tripod-mounted one with a 2 kilowatt laser for a 1-km range.

Successfully demonstrated to the armed forces, intelligence agencies and police forces in field operations, the two systems can bring down micro drones by either jamming their command and control links or damaging their electronics through the laser-based DEW, officials said.

These indigenous systems, however, are extremely modest compared to the much more powerful DEWs developed by countries like the US, Russia, China, Germany and Israel to destroy multiple drones, vehicles and boats. DRDO developing a new variant of Air Defence Fire Control Radar for an unknown Directed Energy Weapon DRDO developing a new variant of Air Defence Fire Control Radar for an unknown Directed Energy Weapon DRDO developing a new variant of Air Defence Fire Control Radar for an unknown Directed Energy Weapon DRDO developing a new variant of Air Defence Fire Control Radar for an unknown Directed Energy Weapon IgMp