Lasers Could Keep Military Drones Flying Forever

Lasers usually show up in military headlines as weapons, not as power supplies. PowerLight Technologies is flipping that expectation by using lasers to keep drones alive instead of shooting them down, as Techspot reports.

The company has confirmed successful subsystem testing of its end to end laser power beaming system, designed to wirelessly recharge unmanned aircraft while they remain airborne.

Developed under the Power Transmitted Over Laser to UAS program, known as PTROL UAS, and backed in part by United States Central Command, the system has now crossed an important threshold.

PowerLight is moving from individual component testing to integrated system validation, bringing the idea of effectively unlimited drone endurance closer to real world deployment.

At its core, the concept replaces fuel trucks, generators, and battery swaps with something far simpler: a beam of light.

How power is sent through the air

PowerLight’s Free Space Power Beaming technology uses high intensity light generated by a laser transmitter to move energy wirelessly over long distances.

This is a line of sight system, meaning the transmitter and the drone must see each other, but within that constraint, the flexibility is significant. The transmitter can be fixed or mobile, and the receiver can be moving at speed or holding position.

Unlike traditional wireless power concepts that scatter energy in all directions, PowerLight’s system tightly controls how the optical beam lands on the receiver.

The laser is shaped and managed so the energy footprint matches the receiver’s capture area, minimizing stray light and maximizing how much power is actually converted into usable electricity. This approach is central to both efficiency and safety.

Because the energy travels as focused light rather than through a physical cable or tether, the system effectively cuts the power cord.

Drones are no longer tied to generators, onboard engines, or battery limitations. They can fly higher, stay airborne longer, and operate farther from support infrastructure without dragging logistics behind them.

PowerLight says the system can deliver kilowatt class power over distances measured in kilometers, enough not just to trickle charge a battery, but to sustain flight and onboard systems continuously.

The laser that follows the drone

Delivering that power requires more than just a bright laser. PowerLight’s autonomous high power transmitter combines sustained kilowatt level output with precision optical tracking and advanced control software.

Designed for mobile and forward deployed environments, it can lock onto a cooperative unmanned aircraft and track its movement in real time.

Recent tests confirmed the transmitter can actively follow a drone’s velocity and vector while maintaining a stable energy link. The system is engineered to beam power to altitudes of up to 5,000 feet and includes layered safety interlocks.

These safeguards blend autonomous systems with operator oversight, allowing controlled operation even in mixed use airspace.

The transmitter’s software stack provides real time monitoring, analytics, and integration with existing UAS command systems and ground power infrastructure, turning the laser station into part of a broader operational network rather than a standalone device.

“This is much more than point to point power transfer using a laser,” said Tom Nugent, PowerLight’s CTO and co founder. “We are building an intelligent mesh energy network capability. Our transmitter communicates with the UAS, tracks its motion, and delivers energy exactly where it’s needed.”

Turning light into electricity mid air

On the aircraft side, PowerLight developed a lightweight onboard receiver weighing about six pounds. The receiver uses laser power converters to capture the non visible optical beam and convert it directly into electrical energy, recharging the drone’s batteries while it stays in flight.

An embedded control module collects real time telemetry and communicates back to the ground station using optical signaling. This enables a fully bi directional, all optical communications link layered directly on top of the power beam itself.

In practical terms, the same light that keeps the drone flying can also carry data, opening the door to power delivery and communications sharing the same optical pathway.

From long endurance to infinite flight

To validate the system in a real platform, PowerLight partnered with Kraus Hamdani Aerospace to integrate the technology into the K1000ULE, an ultra long endurance unmanned aircraft already supporting US Navy and Army missions.

“The K1000ULE was engineered to deliver endurance once considered unattainable,” said Fatema Hamdani, CEO and co founder of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace. “Integrating PowerLight’s laser power beaming adds a new level of persistence. A platform that doesn’t need to land to refuel or recharge is one that never blinks.”

With both transmitter and receiver subsystems validated, PowerLight is preparing for fully integrated flight testing in early 2026. These demonstrations aim to show continuous in flight charging of a K1000ULE equipped with the laser receiver, effectively proving what the company openly calls infinite flight capability.

DroneXL’s Take.

Laser power beaming attacks the least glamorous but most painful problem in drone operations: energy logistics. Batteries die, fuel runs out, generators break, and resupply chains get targeted. If PowerLight’s system scales beyond controlled tests, it could redefine endurance not as a design constraint, but as an operational choice.

For now, this technology belongs to the military, where persistence wins wars quietly. But once power stops being the bottleneck, it is only a matter of time before civilian drones start borrowing the same trick and never coming home either.

Photo credit: PowerLight

Last update on 2026-01-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API