How Laser Communications Innovation is Finally Coming of Age and Driving Innovation in Defense

Radio is a well-established technology. For over 100 years, it has been widely used: in communication, radar, navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other respects. It is popular because it works; it is reliable. And yet laser has shown itself to be a superior medium of communication. Indeed, the laser-vs-radio debate is already getting old. What is new - and what will truly change the debate - are the transformations currently taking place in laser telecommunications - transformations which will drive innovation in defense.

It is perhaps worth pausing to remind ourselves of what laser's existing advantages over radio are. Laser communications offer faster data transfer, and greater data capacity. And by virtue of their structure and size, lasers are almost impossible to detect, intercept, or jam. Interference is also rare. Lasers do not ‘leak’ in the same way radio does, and, as against the broad transmission style of radio, they transfer information along a very narrow beam, which cannot overlap with any other.