Laser guidance - Definition and Overview

Laser guidance is a technique of guiding a missile or other projectile or vehicle to a target by means of a laser beam. Some laser guided systems utilise beam riding guidance, but most operate more similarly to semi-active radar homing (SARH). This technique is sometimes called SALH, for Semi-Active Laser Homing. With this technique, a laser is kept pointed at the target and the laser radiation bounces off the target and is scattered in all directions. The missile, bomb, etc. is launched or droppped somewhere near the target. When it is close enough that some of the reflected laser energy from the target reaches it, a laser seeker notices which direction this energy is coming from and aims the projectile towards the source. As long as the projectile is in the right general area and the laser is kept aimed at the target, the projectile should be guided accurately to the target.

Note that laser guidance isn't useful against targets that don't reflect much laser energy, including those coated in special paint which absorbs laser energy. This is likely to be widely used by advanced military vehicles in order to make it harder to use laser range-finders against them and harder to hit them with laser-guided munitions.