Current Status of Laser Weapons

In order to deal with "potential threats" such as China and Russia, the United States continues to raise its chips to "sci-fi weapons." The US Air Force Research Laboratory claims that the latest "Self-Defensive High-Energy Laser Demonstrator Advanced Technology Demonstration Program" (SHiELD) successfully shot down multiple incoming missiles during the test. The US Navy has greater ambitions and plans to install laser weapons for the Aegis destroyers to defend against the "China missile frenzy." However, experts say that even if these plans go well, the US tactical laser weapon system will take at least a decade to put into practical use, and it needs to solve a series of problems such as volume, weight, power supply and range.

Started testing on fighter aircraft in 2021

The US military's "Stars and Stripes" reported on the 6th that in a series of tests conducted at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the "laser weapon system demonstrator" serving as a SHiELD test sample "fired with several air-launched missiles in flight." Shoot it down." Although it is unclear whether the laser weapons will shoot down targets one after the other, or shoot them down separately in separate tests, Major General William Kühler, who is in charge of the project, said that the ability to shoot down missiles with laser weapons, It will make it possible for the US military to conduct air operations in a "refusal environment" - it can quickly destroy incoming missiles, thus changing the situation in which current fighters can only passively escape when they encounter missile attacks. The US "Geek" website said on the 6th that Kelly Hammet, director of the Directional Energy Council of the US Air Force Research Laboratory, declared that this important demonstration shows that the directed energy system is expected to become a "game changer."

"Laser Weapon System Presenter" tested on April 23

According to the report, the SHiELD program began in 2017. The US Air Force intends to reduce the size and weight of the SHiELD system by 2021 in order to be placed on a "supersonic aircraft", which may refer to fighters and B-1B strategic bombers. The plan calls for the installation of laser weapons in the form of pods under the wings or fuselage to destroy enemy air defense missiles and air-to-air missiles. The US Air Force is also considering testing laser weapons on tankers, while the Special Forces are interested in equipping air-to-ground lasers on AC-130 gunboats.

       

The navy simultaneously promotes a variety of laser weapons

Compared with the Air Force, the US Navy has more than any research and development in laser weapons. The Stars and Stripes reported that the US Navy had previously tested laser weapons on a warship in the Gulf to defend against drones and small vessels. The US Navy plans to expand the use of directed energy weapons in the fleet over the next decade.

The US Navy Times reported on the 7th that "the navy has never been so close to equipped with lasers and other directed energy weapons." Although the technical challenge still exists, the US Navy will test a 150 kW on an amphibious dock landing ship this year. Beam synthesis fiber laser. As a product of the US Naval Research Office's "Solid System for Solid State Laser Technology", the US Navy tested the 30 kW SEQ-3 laser system on the "Ponce" landing ship in 2014. The US Navy plans to install "optical dazzling interceptors" on two "Ali Burke" class destroyers this year, and a maximum of six modifications are planned. This low-energy laser is designed to "blind" drones instead of destroying warships.

Ron Boksol, director of the US Marine Corps Surface Force, revealed that a more powerful "ship killer" will be installed on the guided missile destroyer in 2021. The laser weapon he mentioned was called the “Surface Naval Laser Weapon System” and was inserted into the Aegis combat system of the “Arleigh Burke” class destroyer. The US Navy leaders hope that this directed energy weapon can track missiles and even destroy enemy ships. A report by the US Congressional Research Service Center in October said that if the system was deployed, it would be another "game rule changer."

The US Air Force hopes to test laser weapons on aircraft in 2021.

The report said that the main benefits of using a laser system to defend US warships will appear in the Western Pacific. "An increasingly confident and powerful China can make a large number of cheap missiles designed to suppress the precise defense of the United States. What is worrying is that the US destroyers are likely to attack the anti-missile interceptor missiles in the bomb bay during high-intensity operations. Laser weapons fight these incoming missiles in a cheaper way, retaining ammunition for other targets."

It takes ten years for the laser weapon to mature.

According to Chinese experts, the US Air Force's active airborne laser weapons are mainly infrared directional interference systems. The seekers of infrared guided missiles are attacked by laser beam interference, mainly equipped with helicopters and transport aircraft. If the future laser weapon can destroy air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air missiles and equip them on fighter planes, it will bring great changes to the air combat mode, but it also means that the volume of the laser system must be greatly reduced and the power should be increased.

Experts say that the main difficulty of laser weapons at present is volume, energy consumption and range. The tactical laser weapon may be put into practical use on the ship first, because the space is relatively sufficient, and the ship power system provides convenience for the laser weapon. The Navy Times admits that, in theory, laser weapons can simultaneously engage multiple targets, but limited by the number of beams on the ship, the amount of electricity required for power supply, bad weather, etc., the range of laser weapons is still lower than the current Standard-6" air defense missile. The US military estimates that the laser system is mature and popular, and it will take at least ten years.