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U.S. Military Tests High-Powered Laser

'This shoot-down shifts the paradigm for defensive capabilities'.
An unholy spawn of military jargon and managment-speak if ever such a beast existed.
Over here it would be more like; 'We got it. Not too bad, really.'
 
When I read about it the newspaper pointed out one shell is not a barrage. Or to put it another way - if the enemy fire 1000 shells at your laser emplacement and you can knockout 75% of them then the bad guys have lost 750 shells (cost say $1000 each), you have lost a laser, computer system and trained operators.

cost to the enemy $1 million
cost to you several lives and, what, $2 million? $20 million?
 
True - welcome to the world of hi-tech weaponry - often used to rip-off other countries whilst yours reaps the financial rewards. But in this case, it's a bit of a circle jerk - Israel can't really afford this, but it gets alot of funding fom the US, the US makes the weapon system, etc.......
 
Funding approved for laser cannon

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel and the U.S. are to spend at least $57 million for development of a laser cannon that can shoot down short-range missiles, an Israeli legislator and security officials said Tuesday.

A recent Israeli delegation successfully lobbied Congress to approve the new funding package for the joint U.S.-Israeli Nautilus laser weapon project, said Israeli lawmaker Yuval Steinitz, who was part of the delegation.

Israel wants the Nautilus to help protect its northern border towns from Katyusha rockets, fired by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah during Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. Israel claims that Hezbollah now has 11,000 rockets aimed at Israel.

Congress approved $57 million to fund the project, and Israel will also contribute funding, Steinitz said, but could not say how much.

There is, however, no public record of congressional approval for Nautilus funding. It may fall under the classified portion of the 2004 Defense Authorization bill, passed by Congress and signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on September 30.

The laser beam system was successfully tested at the U.S. White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in February 1996. However, since then, development of the project had been held up by skeptics in the U.S. Congress, said an Israeli security official.

New funding is now needed to transform the technology into a practical weapon, said Steinitz, who is the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defense committee.

"Now we have to make it an efficient, compact weapon that can be used in the battlefield and in the war on terrorism," Steinitz said.

The Nautilus uses a high power radar to track and lock onto the incoming projectile. Then a Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), which looks like a large spotlight, shoots out an intense beam that destroys the rocket.

The White Sands test marked the first time that a rocket has been destroyed in flight by a laser beam. The laser has also proved its ability to shoot down artillery shells.

Israeli security officials said that the potential to use this technology in the war against terrorism was a major factor in convincing Congress to renew support for the project.

"If the technology is developed, it will be applicable to many other military mechanisms," said Steinitz, "It could be a central mechanism in the future battlefield." Congress also approved a further $89 million for a second joint U.S.-Israeli project, the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, which has already entered production, Steinitz said. The system is already operational.

Also Tuesday, the Maariv daily reported that a U.S.-Israeli company has developed a gun that can fire at right angles.

According to the report, the pistol, produced by the Florida-based Corner Shot Holdings, is being tested by the Israeli military and has already been bought by a number of special forces around the world.

A spokesman for the Israeli branch of the company refused to comment on the report.

Pictures of the weapon show a gun composed of two parts -- the front, that can swivel from side to side, containing a pistol with a color camera mounted on top, and the back section which consists of the stock, trigger and a monitor.

The unique weapon allows the soldier to remain behind cover, with only the barrel of the rifle exposed in the direction of the hostile fire, even at a sharp angle.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/10/29/laser.cannon.ap/index.html
 
I recalled reading many years ago about a WWII german weapon that fired round corners. Did a quick Google and found This Interview with a Walter Thompson (track 28) "Another I remember was a strange thing was the V4 I think, it was a rifle for firing around corners, it had a bent barrel, it was supposed to be very useful for street fighting, instead of having to look around a corner and possibly get your head blown off - you could put the bent barrel around first and fire off a few shots and look around and see what you had hit. Some of the ideas were quite farcical but were evidently considered to be of value to the British Government and this job I had in Keil as I say when the War, the shooting were actually finished in Germany was electro acoustic mines. Mines that went off when they got near a ship, I don’t quite know how they worked" There are one or two other tid bits there including a flying submarine
 
Vid at link.

Airborne Military Laser Takes Out Truck on Video
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation ... -out-truck

By Stuart Fox Posted 10.01.2009 at 7:30 pm 8 Comments

In a recent test at the White Sands Missile Range, a specially equipped C-130 plane fried a parked truck with a powerful laser. And while we still haven't seen evidence of the laser "defeating" a ground target, as Boeing puts it, a video of it scorching a direct hit on the hood of a truck is still pretty amazing.


As you can see, the laser beam burns right through the truck's hood, and then through the engine, "defeating" the vehicle. Called the "Advanced Tactical Laser" (ATL), this is the first time the megawatt-powered chemical laser has been used to engage a target in a combat simulation situation.

Now, to be far, the car was parked by itself in the middle of the desert. So unless we've got a clean shot at Al-Qaeda's parking lot, the beam isn't ready for prime time. Plus, last year the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board said that "the Advanced Tactical Laser testbed has no operational utility."

Despite those reservations, Boeing is still confident that the laser will soon provide a weapon that can take out a target with little or no collateral damage.
Click to expand...
 
Vid at link.

Airborne Military Laser Takes Out Truck on Video
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation ... -out-truck

By Stuart Fox Posted 10.01.2009 at 7:30 pm 8 Comments

In a recent test at the White Sands Missile Range, a specially equipped C-130 plane fried a parked truck with a powerful laser. And while we still haven't seen evidence of the laser "defeating" a ground target, as Boeing puts it, a video of it scorching a direct hit on the hood of a truck is still pretty amazing.


As you can see, the laser beam burns right through the truck's hood, and then through the engine, "defeating" the vehicle. Called the "Advanced Tactical Laser" (ATL), this is the first time the megawatt-powered chemical laser has been used to engage a target in a combat simulation situation.

Now, to be far, the car was parked by itself in the middle of the desert. So unless we've got a clean shot at Al-Qaeda's parking lot, the beam isn't ready for prime time. Plus, last year the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board said that "the Advanced Tactical Laser testbed has no operational utility."

Despite those reservations, Boeing is still confident that the laser will soon provide a weapon that can take out a target with little or no collateral damage.
Click to expand...
 
Laser weapon downs 6 planes in Boeing test
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Laser_w ... t_999.html
by Staff Writers

Boeing: UAVs downed with laser beams

Seattle (UPI) Nov 18, 2009 - Mobile lasers mounted on trailers shot down several small unmanned aerial vehicles, U.S. aerospace company Boeing says. The company announced Tuesday that its Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments was being tested by the U.S. Air Force at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., when it used high-brightness laser beams to shoot down five unmanned vehicles, SeattlePI.com reported. "MATRIX's performance is especially noteworthy because it demonstrated unprecedented, ultra-precise and lethal acquisition, pointing and tracking at long ranges using relatively low laser power," Gary Fitzmire, program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems' Directed Energy Systems unit, said in a release.


Albuquerque (UPI) Nov 18, 2009
New laser weaponry being developed at Boeing has dealt a telling blow to airborne aircraft -- all of them unmanned -- in successful tests that take military laser technology a few steps closer to assuming a key role in future conflicts.

Laser weapons are seen by industry analysts as a major step toward a more effective -- and more cost-effective -- deterrent to enemy threats from the air. Laser weapons can be fired at enemy targets without any apparent risk to human crews involved. However, most defense laser technologies are still many stages behind fictional depictions of laser weapons in Hollywood films.

Boeing units in Albuquerque and St. Louis, as well as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., took part in the tests to advance the feasibility of lasers in warfare.

The Boeing Co. said its tests demonstrated the ability of mobile laser weapon systems to track and destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles -- until then a unique mission.

During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, the mobile weapon, called the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated Experiments, took part in the tests.

MATRIX was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory. It is a mobile, trailer-mounted test bed that integrates with existing test-range radar. MATRIX used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five UAVs at various ranges. The sixth aircraft was shot down by Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative. Representatives of the Air Force and Army watched the tests.?

"The Air Force and Boeing achieved a directed-energy breakthrough with these tests," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems' Directed Energy Systems unit. Industry analysts said the potency of the laser beam was one of the issues being worked on before the tests.

Boeing indicated the tests allowed for powerful laser beams to home in on and destroy the intended targets. "MATRIX's performance is especially noteworthy because it demonstrated unprecedented, ultra-precise and lethal acquisition, pointing and tracking at long ranges using relatively low laser power," said Fitzmire.

As warfare becomes technologically advanced there is support on all sides for developing technologies that involve less and less of the human resource that is considered most politically sensitive, analysts said.

Wars that are fought with minimum human input from members of a nation's armed forces are seen less likely to be controversial than conflicts that involve greater human input, as with ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, analysts said.

?Bill Baker, chief scientist of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, praised his team and Boeing for the successful UAV shootdowns.

?"These tests validate the use of directed energy to negate potential hostile threats against the homeland," Baker said. "The team effort of Boeing and the Air Force in developing MATRIX will pay major dividends for the warfighter now and in the years ahead," he added.

As part of the overall counter-UAV demonstration, Boeing also successfully test-fired a lightweight 25mm machine gun from the Laser Avenger platform to potentially increase the capability against UAV threats. This test falls into the category of a hybrid, combining laser with conventional methods.

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, a unit of The Boeing Co. with headquarters in St. Louis, is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses and a versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. It is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.
Click to expand...
 
does anyone know much about the power source that someone is developing to send power from space down to earth?

my father was telling me something about it during a fishing trip a few month back
 
Laser warfare takes to the waves
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... waves.html

* 27 March 2010


THE US navy approved designs last week for a shipboard laser that it hopes will focus a 100-kilowatt beam through the ocean mist.

The system will be based on the free-electron laser, invented in the 1970s by John Madey, which generates light from a powerful beam of electrons.

A big attraction of the free-electron laser is the ability to adjust its output wavelength to improve transmission through the thick, moist air at sea, says Mike Rinn of Boeing, which produced the initial designs. Other laser weapons emit at fixed wavelengths. Also, the laser is electrically powered, so it can recharge quickly, potentially allowing for repeat bursts of fire.

The next step is deciding who will do the detailed design and build the system, which is expected to cost around $160 million.
Click to expand...
 
Vid at link.

Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at Farnborough Airshow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10682693
By Daniel Emery BBC Technology reporter
Advertisement

UAV shot down by anti-aircraft energy laser

US firm Raytheon has unveiled its anti-aircraft laser at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire.

The Laser Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) can either be used on its own or alongside a gunnery system.

In May, the laser was used to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a series of tests.

Raytheon said the solid state fibre laser produces a 50 kilowatt beam and can be used against UAV, mortar, rockets and small surface ships.

The idea of using lasers as weapons has been around almost as long as the laser itself, invented in the early 1950s.
Related stories

* Record power for military laser
* 'Laser jumbo' testing moves ahead

Initially, the systems were chemical lasers, which get their power from a chemical reaction. They are very large pieces of equipment and are very fuel hungry, requiring a significant quantity of chemicals to drive them. The fuel is frequently toxic, requiring operators to don protective clothing.

Solid state lasers, in contrast, consist of a glass or ceramic material to generate a laser beam.

They are smaller, more compact and only require an energy input to generate the beam, although the energy required is still significant.

However, until recently, solid state lasers were not able to reach the same power levels as chemical lasers and so were not deemed suitable for military use.
'Last defence'

Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, told BBC News that CIWS was the start of real world applications for military solid state lasers.
Raytheon CIWS system Artists representation of what the CIWS laser beam which, in reality, is invisible.

"OK, so a UAV isn't armoured, nor is it flying fast, but as you can see from the video they shot it down in flames," he said.

"That's the very beginnings of what we can expect to see as firms miniaturise their technology and make them more effective."

Speaking to BBC News, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president, Mike Booen, said that the tests, performed in a maritime environment, were a big step forward for laser technology.

"We've tied this into Phalanx, the US Navy's anti-missile defence system that links a multiple barrelled 20mm Gatling gun to a radar guidance mechanism.

"This system is already installed in many ships, both in the US and other Nato nations, such as the Royal Navy.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

It was a bad day for UAVs and a good one for laser technology”

End Quote Mike Booen VP, Raython Missile Systems

"It functions as the last line of defence, so if you can fit a laser onto it, you have a longer reach and an unlimited magazine, cause it keeps on throwing out photons," he added.

Two problems that have dogged laser weapon development for some time are weather conditions and the target itself. Damp maritime air can absorb the laser energy before it reaches the target and - as developers discovered in the 1960s when trying to target Russian Mig aircraft - a reflective surface can negate much of the laser's effectiveness.

Mr Booen acknowledges this, but said that these problems could be overcome.

"Every material reflects, but you can overcome this with power; once you get over a certain threshold - measured in multiple kilowatts - then the laser does what it is designed to do," he said.

Mr Booen said that once a material started getting hot, it could affect its reflective ability, making it absorb more energy and eventually leading to its destruction.
Land use

In May, the firm knocked out a number of UAVs at the US Navy test range on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California.

Although Raytheon would not give details of the height, speed and range of the UAVs, saying that data "sensitive", it did say that the Navy wanted tests to be as realistic as possible, suggesting that the aircraft were behaving in the way military planners would expect them to.

"This is the first time a UAV threat has been targeted and neutralised in a marine environment," said Mr Booen

"On a ship, the laser can be mounted inside a ship and the beam fed up through fibre cables.

"It was a bad day for UAVs and a good one for laser technology," he added.

The firm is also working on a sister land based system that can be used to target mortar and rocket rounds.

"On land, it could be mounted in trailers so it has applications across the globe," said Mr Booen.

Mr Felstead agreed, saying it could have "great capability" as a last line of defence in many situations.

"There are numerous real world applications for a laser than can knock out airborne threats, especially mortars and rockets.

"Airbases in Afghanistan, the Green Zone in Baghdad or the border with Gaza and Israel could all potentially use something like this.

"We're still some way off being able to take out an [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile] missile with laser technology, but we're on the path to that," he added.
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Must mean something different in the U.S.A.... Oh, no it doesn't, does it? Unless it's a reference to Ponce de Leon? Which is even more confusing.
 
My inner anorak was so taken with the laser that I totally overlooked the name of the ship.
 
Army’s New Laser Cannon Blasts Drones Out of the Sky, Even in Fog

Boeing is building a laser cannon for the U.S. Army, and the new weapon has now proved it will be as capable at sea as on land. The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD)—basically a high-energy laser mounted on top of a big truck—was successfully used to blast some UAV drones and 60mm mortars out of the Florida sky earlier this year, Boeing announced Thursday.

This test was done in a windy and foggy environment, an essential step to proving the technology is useful for naval deployment. The HEL MD used a 10-kilowatt laser—a much less powerful version of what it will eventually fire—to “successfully engage” more than 150 targets at Eglin Air Force Base, a Department of Defense weapons testing facility on the Florida Panhandle. In other words, it disabled or destroyed them. ...

http://www.wired.com/2014/09/armys-new- ... en-in-fog/
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A laser weapon made by Lockheed Martin can stop a small truck dead in its tracks from more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) away, the company announced this week.

The laser system, called ATHENA (short for Advanced Test High Energy Asset), is designed to protect military forces and key infrastructure, Lockheed Martin representatives said. During a recent field test, the laser managed to burn through and disable a small truck's engine.

The truck was not driving normally; it was on a platform with the engine and drivetrain running, Lockheed Martin representatives said. The milestone is the highest power ever documented by a laser weapon of its type, according to the company. Lockheed is expected to conduct additional tests of ATHENA. ...

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/laser-weapon-stops-truck-tracks-mile-away-144508504.html#DDTJE4W
 
That's all well and good is your enemy is going to leave their truck standing still in a really handy position where the laser can burn through to the vulnerable bits.

Looks like they used a civilian truck too.
 
Chinese also using military lasers.

(CNN) Lasers have been used to target US aerial operations in the Pacific, with 20 incidents recorded since September of last year, according to a US military official.

The military spokeswoman, who requested not to be named, told CNN that lasers had been flashed at US aircraft, and that the sources of these flashes are suspected to be Chinese. The latest incident occurred within the last two weeks, the official said.

None of the incidents have resulted in any medical complaints or injuries, the spokeswoman said. The attacks appear similar to incidents that occurred in the East African country of Djiboutiearlier in the year, when US military airmen were injured by lasers whichthe US militarysaid originated from a nearby Chinese military base.

At a regular press briefing Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: "According to what we have learned from the relevant authorities, the accusations in the relevant reports by US media are totally groundless and purely fabricated."

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/22/...cid=newsltushpmgnews__TheMorningEmail__062218
 
This laser has proved effective against seaborne and airborne targets.

The US Navy announced on Wednesday that it tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in the Middle East.

The system could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

The test on Tuesday saw the USS Portland test-fire its Laser Weapon System Demonstrator at the target in the Gulf of Aden, the body of water separating East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.

The Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet described the laser as having “successfully engaged” the target in a statement. Previously, the Portland used the laser to bring down a flying drone in May 2020.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40766409.html
 

£10-a-shot laser weapon blasts drone out the sky in major military first​

Named DragonFire, the laser costs around £10 per shot. In comparison, destroyer missiles can cost around £1million each.

The range of the weapon remains classified, but the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that the precision involved in the testing was equivalent to hitting a £1 coin from a kilometre away.
It is a line-of-sight weapon and can ‘engage with any visible target’.

According to The Times, it destroyed incoming drones from several miles away, and could be ready for use on ships in five years.

Testing of the system, which cost £100 million to develop, took place at the Ministry of Defence’s Hebrides Range in Scotland.

‘These trials have seen us take a huge step forward in realising the potential opportunities and understanding the threats posed by directed energy weapons [DEWs],’ said Dr Paul Hollinshead, chief executive of the MoD’s defence science and technology laboratory (DSTL).
Click to expand...
This test was on a drone - maybe just hovering or certainly slow moving. Whether it’d be any use on something like a cruise missile I don’t know.
 
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