Ukraine has tested a low-cost laser air-defence system designed to destroy small drones at close range, according to a report published by The Atlantic on 10 February 2026.

In the article, staff writer Simon Shuster describes a field demonstration of a prototype weapon called Sunray, developed by a Ukrainian team whose company name was withheld for security reasons. The device, he writes, resembled a hobbyist’s telescope fitted with cameras and mounted on the roof of a pickup truck. During the test, the operator tracked a small drone and, on command, fired an invisible, silent beam that ignited the target within seconds, causing it to fall.

The report frames Sunray as part of a wider Ukrainian drive to expand domestic air-defence capacity as Russia continues to use inexpensive one-way attack drones alongside cruise and ballistic missiles. Shuster notes that Ukraine is seeking systems that can be built quickly and operated at a cost that makes sense against large numbers of relatively cheap targets.

Cost and development timelines are central to the comparison. The Ukrainian developers told The Atlantic they built Sunray in about two years for “a few million dollars” and expected a unit price of “a few hundred thousand dollars”. In contrast, the US Navy’s HELIOS programme, led by Lockheed Martin, began with a $150 million contract award in 2018 to develop and deliver two high-power laser weapon systems with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, counter-drone, and optical dazzler functions.

Shuster writes that Pavlo Yelizarov, described as the newly appointed commander responsible for Ukraine’s air-defence effort, argued the difference in speed and cost reflected wartime pressures. In the same reporting, Yelizarov also pointed to the problem of expending expensive interceptor missiles against low-cost drones.

The broader policy context is a push towards more short-range, layered air defence built around mobile units and a mixture of interception methods. In a separate public address dated 20 January 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had approved Yelizarov’s appointment as deputy commander of the Air Force and called for a “new approach” to air defence, explicitly referencing mobile fire groups, interceptor drones, and other short-range means.

While The Atlantic focuses on Sunray’s demonstration against a small drone, the article’s title and opening also emphasise the disruptive potential of lasers in air defence. Lasers, in principle, offer a very low cost per engagement compared with missiles, provided the platform can generate sufficient power and maintain accurate tracking for long enough to heat a vulnerable point on the target. That proposition is particularly relevant to Ukraine’s current threat environment, where mass drone raids are often designed to exhaust ammunition stocks and overwhelm point defences.

A laser’s practical usefulness depends on conditions. Atmospheric effects such as fog, rain, smoke, dust and turbulence can reduce beam effectiveness. Lasers also require line of sight and sustained tracking, and their performance can be limited by the target’s speed, distance and manoeuvres. For mobile use, the system must combine stabilisation, sensors, computing, and a power supply robust enough to support repeated firings. None of these constraints is unique to Ukraine, but they are central to whether a prototype can be scaled into operational deployment.

The comparison with HELIOS highlights the different settings in which such systems are developed and fielded. Lockheed Martin’s 2018 release described HELIOS as a ship-integrated system intended to work with the US Navy’s Aegis Combat System, combining a high-energy laser with sensors and an optical dazzler capability for counter-drone missions. Sunray, as described by Shuster, appears oriented towards field mobility and rapid use against small targets, with an emphasis on affordability and deployment speed.

Shuster also reports that Ukraine’s air-defence planners are working on a “bootstrapped” version of Israel’s Iron Dome concept, while noting the scale differences between Ukraine’s territory and Israel’s and the time required to build an effective shield. In practice, Ukraine’s approach points towards a mix of capabilities: longer-range missile systems for aircraft and missiles, and cheaper short-range solutions, including guns, electronic warfare, interceptor drones and, potentially, lasers, to deal with mass drone attacks.

For Ukraine, the immediate question is whether systems such as Sunray can be produced in numbers, integrated into command and control, and kept operating reliably in combat conditions. The Atlantic report suggests Ukrainian developers and the Air Force leadership see directed-energy weapons as one answer to the economics of air defence, particularly in a war where the volume of drone attacks is as significant as the sophistication of the platforms used.