What We Know About ‘Apollo,' NATO’s New Australian-Made Laser Weapon
EOS CEO Dr. Andreas Schwer on the system that scored the world's first known laser weapon export contract.
Australia is not usually the first name that comes up in conversations about the future of high-energy laser weapons. The United States and China dominate the field, Israel deployed the first operational system to score a real-world combat kill, and Europe is working its way through consortium demonstrators and cross-border joint ventures.
Yet somehow, it was Canberra that landed the first publicly confirmed export contract for a laser weapon with a €71.4 million ($125 million) deal between Electro Optic Systems (EOS) and an undisclosed European NATO customer. Known as “Apollo,” the 100 kilowatt system can purportedly destroy targets at ranges of up to three kilometers — and according to EOS executives, the company is already in “advanced negotiations” with another buyer.
For EOS CEO Dr. Andreas Schwer, the NATO export contract isn’t just validation of years of research and development: the company wants to dominate the fast-growing global market for high-energy laser weapons as countries race to field fresh countermeasures to meet the rapid proliferation of low-cost weaponized drones.
“In five years, EOS will have introduced a 300 kw high energy laser weapon family to the market,” Schwer, a former executive at Rheinmetall and Airbus, told Laser Wars. “EOS is targeting global leadership in high energy laser weapons.”
Laser Wars provided a written list of questions to Schwer regarding Apollo and EOS’s global laser weapon ambitions. His (brief) responses are published in full below, with some additional context in footnotes.
LASER WARS: Does EOS plan a family of solutions around Apollo’s design, or is the primary focus now on achieving full-rate production? If a family, what other system characteristics or market needs are you addressing?
DR. ANDREAS SCHWER: Apollo can be configured to customer needs and as per mission requirement. It is scalable between 50-150 kw1 and, by that, can engage against different types of targets. Primarily designed for counter-drone operations, it also provides C-RAM capability to defeat rockets, artillery shells and mortars.
Apollo is a land-based system. Are there plans for naval or airborne variants like the Iron Beam?
Yes, a naval variant is in development.
Is EOS partnering with companies in other countries? Any in the United States?
The EOS “go to market strategy” is always focusing on partnerships and strategic cooperations with the respective national champions.2
What country controls the technology from a security/cybersecurity standpoint? Singapore?
The product has been developed and will be produced by our Laser Innovation Center in Singapore.3
Can you provide details regarding the nature of Apollo’s testing, namely where and under what sort of conditions the system was evaluated? And what kind of drone kills has it pulled off — how many drones at one time, in what timeframe, etc?
The system can kill 20-30 drones per minute. EOS has conducted intensive testing of its high energy laser products over many years, with customer demonstrations beginning in 2023.4
How does Apollo handle airspace deconfliction or concerns regarding damage to space assets?
Apollo incorporates special safety measures to prevent collateral damage on the ground, in the air, and in space during firings.
How has EOS approached the issues of atmospheric interference, which is a major obstacle for laser weapons? Adaptive optics?
Yes, Apollo features adaptive optics.5 Naturally, atmospheric conditions play a significant role in the effectiveness of high-power lasers. The major obstacles are heavy rain and fog.
Two emitter units means two apertures in one containerized solution, correct? Are both tied to one laser source or separate laser sources?
This is a commercially sensitive subject that we don’t discuss publicly.
For context, 150 kw puts Apollo right between the Israel’s 100 kw Iron Beam and the claimed 180-250 kw output of the LY-1 naval laser weapon system China unveiled in early September.
I have no idea what “national champions” means.
Opening EOS’s primary laser development and production center in Singapore in April 2024 was a deliberate choice to circumvent the red tape associated with exporting defense technology under the US State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Ironically, the US, United Kingdom, and Australia agreed to relax those export controls just a few months later.
EOS has been working on high-energy laser weapons (and discussing contract negotiations with foreign partners) since at least 2020, with power levels gradually increasing from 26 kw in October of that year to 36-50 kw in May 2023 and then 50-100 kw in September 2024. In 2021, the company even unveiled plans to integrate a laser weapon into variant of its prototype T2000 modular medium caliber turret.
The Adaptive Optics Revolution: A History by US Air Force Research Lab historian Robert Duffner may be the most comprehensive examination of the technology’s evolution currently available.