OW5
The OW5 is a Chinese ground-based high-energy laser weapon designed to intercept low-attitude, slow-moving targets. The system was officially unveiled at the 2025 China Victory Day Parade as part of the People's Liberation Army's anti-drone air defense system, but the vehicle was spotted earlier in transit on highways in June 2025.[1][2] The export versions of the system, including variants such as OW5-A10, OW5-A30, and OW5-A50, were promoted by the China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco) in 2021. The variant designation denotes the laser's rated power—the OW5-A50 is rated at 50-kilowatt [3] The particular version unveiled in September 2025 was the OW5-A10 variant, which fires a 10-kilowatt laser and it's mounted on a Dongfeng Mengshi platform, and the OW5-A50, which is mounted on 8×8 heavy wheeled truck chassis.[4][5][6]
See also
[edit]- LY-1
- High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance
- DragonFire (weapon)
- AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System
- Iron Beam
References
[edit]- ^ Malyasov, Dylan (14 June 2025). "Chinese laser gun spotted on highway". Defense Blog.
- ^ "China tests first OW5-A50 laser air defense system to defend key areas from enemy drone swarms". armyrecognition. 24 July 2025.
- ^ Sato, Daisuke (20 July 2025). "China debuts new mobile drone-killing laser". Defense Blog.
- ^ Barker, Memphis (2 September 2025). "China is about to reveal the weapon it's been hiding from the world". The Telegraph.
- ^ Osborn, Kris (30 July 2025). "Can China's Truck-Mounted Counter-Drone Laser Rival the US Army?". Yahoo News.
- ^ Panella, Chris; Loh, Matthew (9 September 2025). "What China's big weapons flex says about how it's arming for future wars". Business Insider.