The U.S. Air Force has publicly released high-definition footage of the F-15E fighter jet firing a laser-guided rocket for the first time, according to an article from "The War Zone" in the United States on September 4.

The photo was taken on May 22, 2025, at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, but it wasn't officially released by the U.S. military until September 3, after China's military parade.

Subsequently, American media published an article, which particularly emphasized the anti-drone use and cost-effective firepower density of this rocket, claiming that the F-15E can carry up to 42 rockets, enabling it to build an aerial fire wall when defending against low-altitude saturation attacks.

The tone of the article clearly conveys a sense of "we also have laser weapons, we also have new means to counter drones, and even we have weapons you don't."

The footage recorded in the first half of the year was not released early or late, but was suddenly released right after China's military parade. This is certainly not a coincidence; the intention is obvious.

American media's image

It is evident that the U.S. military's move was clearly stimulated by the anti-drone equipment displayed in China's military parade.

During the military parade on September 3, China not only showcased laser cannons, but also publicly revealed several new anti-drone and anti-cruise missile equipment for the first time. These devices covered multiple dimensions such as hard kill, soft kill, and artillery destruction, building a complete multi-layered defense system at low altitudes.

Especially the LY-1 laser cannon, its efficient interception capability against drones was highlighted during the parade. Without traditional ammunition, it can achieve precise, low-cost, and continuous interception of incoming targets.

This is not only a technical pressure on the U.S. military in terms of equipment, but also a challenge in tactical concepts - China does not use more expensive weapons to deal with drones, but rather uses a more systematic and advanced approach to establish an overall defense.

In the past two years, the U.S. military has repeatedly faced tactical dilemmas such as missile shortages and target overload when fighting against Houthi forces and Iranian drones in the Middle East.

Therefore, from a psychological perspective, the U.S. indeed has sufficient reasons to quickly release images after the military parade, demonstrating that it also has anti-drone weapons, easing external doubts about its combat effectiveness.

American media's image

However, if we look at the weapon technology itself, the laser-guided rocket is not really high-tech.

Its principle is simple: adding a mid-course laser guidance module to a traditional 70mm rocket allows this originally water-spraying weapon to become a precision munition that can hit any target.

This design is not complex and is an engineering compromise: it doesn't require developing a new missile, nor does it need to replace the aircraft platform, just modifying the bomb structure is enough.

The current single-unit cost of this U.S. laser-guided rocket is around $20,000, far less than AIM-9X and AIM-120 air-to-air missiles.

This price makes it especially suitable for targeting low-cost objectives, such as suicide drones, slow-speed cruise missiles, and small aerial platforms.

But its technological essence has not gone beyond the framework of traditional guided rockets, it does not have autonomous enemy detection capabilities, nor does it have infrared imaging recognition, anti-jamming algorithms, real-time target locking, and other high-end features.

Although the next version plans to add an infrared guidance head, even so, it is still a tool weapon, without strategic deterrence capabilities.

To put it simply, the biggest advantage of this thing is that it is large in quantity and cheap, and has nothing to do with advanced technology.

American media's image

Compared with that, although China has not yet publicly shown a completely identical air-to-air rocket system to the laser-guided rocket, it does not mean that China is lagging behind in this field.

China has already had mature reserves in the development of laser-guided rockets, such as the Tianjian-12, AR series, and small guided munitions carried by the Yilong UAV and armed helicopters, some of which have multi-mode guidance capabilities including laser, radar, and infrared.

China is already leading globally in tactical laser weapons, possessing a complete chain from detection, guidance to strike, rather than patching up traditional rockets.

In other words, China does not need to rely on a patchwork method of adding laser modules to old rockets, but directly moves towards future combat systems such as optical interception of drones and microwave damage.

In terms of operational concepts, China tends to build a low-altitude intelligent perception network, using a system integration approach to strike incoming targets, rather than relying on a single aircraft's high-density firepower to withstand.

From a strategic perspective, China's solution has already jumped out of the tactical bottleneck that the U.S. military is in.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7546432064587383348/

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