The project is part of the 2024–2030 military planning law and aims to provide the armed forces with new short-range air defence capabilities by 2030. With a power output of several tens of kilowatts, the demonstrator will employ innovative technologies to combine and concentrate laser energy for maximum effectiveness against tactical drones.
SYDERAL will also test the ability of laser weapons to neutralise rockets, mortar shells and loitering munitions. Designed to be scalable, modular, compact and usable day and night, the system will evaluate operational readiness for future deployment.
The consortium will draw on advanced expertise in complex technologies such as laser beam combination, high-precision automatic video tracking and adaptive optics. These features are expected to offer greater effectiveness than comparable systems developed elsewhere in the world.
Development of this sovereign solution follows an initial notification in 2024 awarded to Lumibird and CILAS for €10 million. That phase focused on producing laser sources capable of being combined in large numbers to reach very high power levels.
The ministry underlined that SYDERAL represents “a first step toward achieving very high power and being able to face more complex threats such as missiles.”
