A specialist military unit has been established to operate the system, with personnel trained specifically for the mission. Its operators have informally named the weapon the “Jedi Sword”.
Barier is highly automated and is designed to acquire an airborne target before tracking it throughout the engagement. The laser can neutralise a drone by damaging its flight-control system or causing its warhead to detonate.
The system is reported to deliver greater power than Russia’s first generation of laser weapons. Its intended target set includes fast-moving uncrewed aircraft, cruise missiles and crewed aircraft.
Against a larger aircraft, the beam can reportedly be focused on the root of a wing until the structure is sufficiently damaged to fail. The required engagement time is said to range from several seconds to about one minute, depending on the target.
Barier can engage several drones in rapid succession and almost simultaneously. Its stated range also exceeds that of machine guns and man-portable air-defence systems used for short-range protection.
The system’s main operational advantage is the ability to conduct repeated engagements without consuming guided interceptors. Its firing capacity is described as effectively limited by the electrical power available, while the cost of each engagement is lower than that of a guided missile.
