Laser weapons: US Army to test most powerful ever built next year

Lasers are presently used to shoot down small drones, however a extra highly effective weapon might tackle bigger targets

By David Hambling

The US Military is planning to display a 300-kilowatt laser weapon, its strongest ever, subsequent yr. Normal Atomics Electromagnetic Methods (GA-EMS) and Boeing are constructing the system, which is the scale of a delivery container and mounted on a heavy truck.

“The excessive energy, compact laser weapon… will produce a deadly output larger than something fielded to this point,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, mentioned in an announcement.

The US Navy deployed the primary high-energy laser weapon, often called LaWS, on the USS Ponce in 2014, with a reported 30 kilowatt output. Most army lasers are usually within the 30 to 100 kilowatt vary, which is principally helpful for taking pictures down small drones, so the brand new weapon is a major improve.

Sometimes such weapons are primarily based on a number of industrial fibre lasers, with the output mixed right into a single beam. The brand new weapon as a substitute makes use of giant slabs of glass linked in collection. Such slabs have beforehand been onerous to make use of on account of waste warmth and points with beam high quality, however GA-EMS says connecting them in collection solves these points and removes the necessity to mix beams from a number of fibre lasers.

The brand new laser is a part of a US Military venture to develop defensive lasers that may shoot down incoming threats. Final yr it demonstrated a 10-kilowatt laser defeating small mortar rounds.

Justin Bronk at UK safety suppose tank Royal United Providers Institute says the extra highly effective laser can tackle greater targets in addition to participating a number of targets in fast succession.

“It should permit the system to have interaction a larger density of incoming threats, and likewise doubtlessly have interaction threats which provide a shorter engagement window both on account of pace or very low altitude flight trajectory,” says Bronk.

This would possibly permit the laser to defend towards ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to drones, plane and helicopters, he says.