Article Posted on : - Apr 15, 2010

Target munitions (IEDs, UXO) can be destroyed by heating, resulting in a low-yield detonation using laser technology. A File Photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): DRDO is developing a laser-based system which can neutralise land mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from a distance of 250 metres without risking the lives of troops.

"We are in the process of developing the Laser Ordnance Disposal System (LORDS) which can be used for neutralizing mines, IEDs and other forms of explosives, planted by terrorists, from a distance of up to 250 meters," DRDO's Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC) Director A K Maini told PTI on Wednesday.

The system directs a high-energy invisible infrared beam on the target, which can be anything from land mines, IEDs or old bombs in the forces' inventory, and burns the explosive material inside them and renders them useless, he added.

LASTEC, working on directed energy laser systems and technologies, has already developed a prototype of the system, which has been extensively tested on various types of explosives.

Once developed, the system could be used by Army and Paramilitary personnel in insurgency-infested states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast and the naxal-affected areas, Maini said.

"Neutralization of ordnance is a hazardous process that is prone to accidents and casualties. LORDS can help in safe disposal of ordnances." Maini said while referring to the huge stockpiles of ammunition that have outlived their shelf lives.

LASTEC is also working on the concept of developing another high power laser system that can be used to set terrorists' hideouts on fire from a safe distance of over 300 meters without exposing personnel to the firing from terrorists.

Post 26/11, DRDO has increased its focus on urban warfare and has opened a Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) Division that would cater to weapons, equipment and life support systems for the paramilitary and police forces.