00:00The Australian-based company making these laser weapons may soon call Europe home,
00:06in a strategic pivot that could boost Europe's defense buildup and offer a cost-effective
00:10countermeasure for Ukraine. Electro-Optic Systems, or EOS, plans to relocate its headquarters and
00:18stock market listing to Europe within a year, which, if done, would make them the first major
00:24defense company to move permanently to Europe. It produces the Apollo high-energy laser weapon,
00:30which uses an invisible and silent beam of light to burn through targets, sending drones tumbling
00:35to the ground. CEO Andrea Schwer claims it's a superior and much less expensive alternative
00:42to conventional rockets, missiles, and guns, encountering the growing threat of drone warfare.
00:47The laser is extremely cheap because there is no ammunition supply needed. You can shoot down a
00:55drone for cost of the energy, which is between $1 and $5 per shot. The cost of a missile is about
01:01$500,000 on average. The cost of a rocket, $30,000, $40,000. The cost of a cannon-based
01:07engagement, usually with proximity ammunition, but you still have a burst of about 10 rounds.
01:12So it's still about $20,000, $40,000 per kill. And you can easily add this up.
01:18High-energy lasers are not yet fully battle-tested. Rain, fog, and dust can severely degrade the
01:24effectiveness of the beams, while substantial cooling and energy demands make frontline use
01:30hard to predict. EOS's product could get a real-world test in Ukraine.
01:36Schwer says it has received requests for the Apollo weapon from the Ukrainian government,
01:40but has yet to find a country willing to foot the bill, despite offering discounted prices.
01:44We are happy to support Ukraine with all what we can do.
01:48He adds that most of their Western European partners want to test and verify the system
01:52themselves before funding it for Ukraine, though they are not yet deployed at scale.
01:57And Europe's high-energy laser programs remain largely in prototype or research and development.
02:04Control of IP is also emerging as a central issue in Europe's defense buildup,
02:08as NATO allies move away from their dependence on US-made weapons.
02:12EOS owns all its IP, which is based in Singapore, where it benefits from their export rules and
02:19enables it to transfer the tech to clients.
02:21Not any military component has its origin in the US. That is mandatory, not only for NATO countries,
02:29also for Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
02:31Schwer says EOS production and engineering facilities are already being set up in Germany,
02:36and that they are in talks with 10 European governments about future orders.
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