The Turkish company Roketsan conducted further tests of its laser weapon system named ALKA (ALKA Directed Energy Weapon System [DEWS]) at the end of December last year, which the company officially announced on its social media and also shared a video of these tests.
"During the test firings, ALKA targeted and destroyed aerial and ground threats located at various distances. The system demonstrated its advantages against the targets," commented Roketsan on the event.
Interestingly, during the tests, the ALKA system was able to destroy targets both in the air—specifically a standard FPV drone as well as a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle.
And on the ground, footage showed the destruction of a homemade explosive device, and notably, it "burned through" 10 mm dynamic armor. While it’s unlikely that this reflects the system's "standard" capabilities, it is more about demonstrating potential for future upgrades and improvements.
The ALKA system was first introduced at the IDEF exhibition in 2019, and development on it has likely been ongoing since the 2010s.
The main weapon of ALKA is a laser station that can take down drones at a range of up to 1 km, and the system also includes an option to jam drones at a distance of up to 4 km. The system's power is 50 kW.
Previously, Defense Express reported on how Turkey is creating its own air defense - from the laser Alka to the HISAR and Siper missile systems.