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

Lasers are at present used to shoot down small drones, however a extra highly effective weapon may tackle bigger targets

By David Hambling

The US Military is planning to reveal a 300-kilowatt laser weapon, essentially the most highly effective ever constructed, subsequent 12 months. Normal Atomics Electromagnetic Methods (GA-EMS) and Boeing are constructing the machine, which is the dimensions of a delivery container and mounted on a heavy truck.

“The excessive energy, compact laser weapon… will produce a deadly output higher than something fielded thus far,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, stated in a press release.

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 navy lasers are usually within the 30 to 100 kilowatt vary, which is principally helpful for capturing down small drones, so the brand new weapon is a major enhance.

Sometimes such weapons are based mostly 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 massive slabs of glass linked in sequence. Such slabs have beforehand been laborious to make use of as a consequence of waste warmth and points with beam high quality, however GA-EMS says connecting them in sequence 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 undertaking to develop defensive lasers that may shoot down incoming threats. Final 12 months it demonstrated a 10-kilowatt laser defeating small mortar rounds.

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

“It can enable the system to have interaction a higher density of incoming threats, and likewise doubtlessly interact threats which supply a shorter engagement window both as a consequence of pace or very low altitude flight trajectory,” says Bronk.

This may enable the laser to defend towards ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to drones, plane and helicopters, he says.