Ukrainian company Fulltime Robotics continues to develop its portable SlimBeam laser to combat enemy FPV drones. The engineers presented a prototype of their installation at IRON DEMO 2025, which was visited by a journalist from Defense.
The installation has a power of 1.5 kW and can hit targets at a distance of up to 1 kilometer. SlimBeam also has a mode of blinding enemy optics – both drones and stationary optical stations. The declared effective range in this mode is about 2 km.
As Igor, one of the developers from the Fulltime Robotics team, said, the Ukrainian laser installation is one of the lightest installations of similar power in the world. Its weight is slightly less than 50 kg.
The laser is proposed to be installed on stationary positions and ground robotic systems (GRS). One of the main challenges for the developer remains ensuring the tracking of an air target during flight.
"We are currently working on tracking targets. That is, we cannot yet track objects for a long time. We need to "lead" the target for some time - 5-10-15 seconds to destroy it. We are not yet able to ensure good accuracy, but we are working on it.
(...) We are testing the laser on static targets at the moment. Mainly because the laser beam is guided by manual control. But we are also developing automatic control, which we are currently improving, says Igor.
It is worth noting that the SlimBeam laser is designed specifically to combat small drones. The developer considered the possibility of hitting Iranian-Russian Shahed drones, but for such a large target, more power is needed. According to the developer, to damage the Shahed, the laser must work continuously on it for 10-12 seconds.
Fulltime Robotics plans to create a version of the laser not only on a turret, but also in the form of a rifle for use by an infantryman. It is assumed that such a tool will allow to strengthen the defense of positions from enemy reconnaissance drones and FPV.
The company notes that the laser can already be effectively used for civilian tasks. It can remove obstacles from hard-to-reach structures – power lines, high-rise buildings, and cut tree branches. During IRON DEMO 2025, the developer demonstrated this functionality.
At the exhibition, developers also presented a number of other military developments. For example, Oboronka wrote that the Ukrainian Dwarf Engineering presented a universal auto-guidance module for FPV drones. And the ISV company presented the Karakurt ground robotic complex for remote launching of several drones.