Laser weapon
A laser weapon
Several types of
Laser weapons capable of directly damaging or destroying a target in combat are still in the experimental stage. The general idea of laser-beam weaponry is to hit a target with a train of brief pulses of light. The
Laser-based missile and air defense systems
Laser-based directed-energy weapons have been under development for defense purposes, particularly for the destruction of incoming missiles. One such example is the Boeing Airborne Laser, constructed inside a Boeing 747 and designated as the YAL-1. This system was designed to eliminate short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their boost phase.[10]
Another laser-based defense system was researched for the
A related concept from the SDI project was the
Iron beam
Iron Beam is a laser-based
Iron Beam uses a fiber laser to destroy an airborne target. Whether acting as a stand-alone system or with external cueing as part of an air-defense system, a threat is detected by a surveillance system and tracked by vehicle platforms in order to engage.[16]
Anti-drone systems
In the 21st century, several countries have developed anti-drone laser systems to counter the increasing threat of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These systems are designed to detect, track, and destroy drones using high-powered lasers, offering a cost-effective and flexible solution for airspace protection.
In the United States, Lockheed Martin demonstrated the capabilities of its ATHENA laser system in 2017, which uses a 30-kilowatt ALADIN laser to target and destroy UAVs.[17] Another American company, Raytheon, developed the High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) in 2019, which is capable of detecting and destroying drones at a distance of up to three kilometers.[17]
Turkey has also invested in the development of laser weapons, with companies like Roketsan producing the Alka system, which combines laser and electromagnetic weapons to incapacitate and destroy single or group targets.[17] Other Turkish companies, such as Aselsan and TUBITAK BILGEM, have also demonstrated laser systems capable of targeting small UAVs and explosive devices.[17]
Germany is another leader in the development of combat laser systems, with defense company Rheinmetall working on stationary and mobile versions of its High Energy Laser (HEL) system since the 2000s.[17] Rheinmetall's lasers are designed to protect against a variety of threats, including small and medium-sized UAVs, helicopters, missiles, mines, and artillery shells.[17]
Israel has also been actively developing laser weapons, with companies like Rafael Advanced Defense Systems demonstrating the compact Drone Dome system in 2020, which is designed to destroy UAVs and their swarms.[17] Another Israeli system, called Light Blade, was developed by OptiDefense to counter terrorist threats such as mini UAVs and explosive devices attached to balloons or kites.[17]
The development and deployment of these anti-drone laser systems show the increasing importance of protecting airspace from emerging threats, while also providing a cost-effective and flexible solution for defense forces around the world.
Electrolaser
An electrolaser first
Pulsed energy projectile
Pulsed Energy Projectile or PEP systems emit an infrared laser pulse which creates rapidly expanding plasma at the target. The resulting sound, shock and electromagnetic waves stun the target and cause pain and temporary paralysis. The weapon is under development and is intended as a non-lethal weapon in crowd control though it can also be used as a lethal weapon.
Dazzler
A
Initially developed for military use, non-military products are becoming available for use in law enforcement and security.[18][19]
The
- ZM-87
- PY132A is a Chinese anti-drone dazzler.[23]
- Soviet laser pistol was a prototype weapon designed for cosmonauts.
- Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (AN/SEQ-4 ODIN) is a U.S. laser to be field tested in 2019 on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.[24]
Examples
Leading Western companies in the development of laser weapons have been Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Rheinmetall and MBDA.[25][26][27][28][29]
Name | Description | Year | Status | Citation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Project Excalibur | United States government nuclear weapons research program to develop a nuclear pumped x-ray laser as a directed energy weapon for ballistic missile defense. | 1980s | Canceled | [30] |
Soviet laser pistol | First handheld laser weapon intended for use by cosmonauts in outer space. | 1984 | No longer used | |
1K17 Szhatie | Experimental Soviet self-propelled laser weapon. | Never went beyond the experimental stage | ||
17F19DM Polyus/Skif-DM | Soviet laser-armed orbital weapon that failed during deployment. | 1987 | Failed | |
Terra-3 | Soviet laser facility thought to be a powerful anti-satellite weapon prototype; later found to be a testing site with limited satellite tracking capabilities. | Abandoned, partially disassembled | ||
US Army Missile Command laser | Ruggedized tunable laser emitting narrow-linewidth in the yellow-orange-red part of the spectrum. | 1991 | Never went beyond the experimental stage | [31] |
Boeing YAL-1 | Airborne gas or chemical laser mounted in a modified Boeing 747, intended to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles over enemy territory. | 2000s | Canceled | [32][33][34][35][36] |
Precision Airborne Standoff Directed Energy Weapon | Directed energy weapon project | 2008 | Canceled | |
Laser Close-In Weapon System |
Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow. | 2010 | Experimental | [37] |
ZEUS-HLONS (HMMWV Laser Ordnance Neutralization System) |
First laser and energy weapon used on a battlefield for neutralizing mines and unexploded ordnance. | Niche application | ||
High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) | Directed energy weapon project | Status unknown | ||
Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL ) |
Experimental U.S. Navy deuterium fluoride laser tested against an Air Force satellite | 1997 | Canceled | |
Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD) | Laser for use aboard U.S. Navy warships | 2011 | Status unknown | [38][39] |
PHaSR ) |
Non-lethal hand-held weapon developed by the United States Air Force's Directed Energy Directorate to "dazzle" or stun a target | Status unknown | [40] | |
Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) | Weaponized deuterium fluoride laser developed in a joint research project by Israel and the U.S. for shooting down aircraft and missiles | Discontinued | [41] | |
Beriev A-60 | Soviet/Russian CO2 gas laser mounted on an Ilyushin Il-76MD transport | Experimental | [42] | |
High Energy Laser-Mobile Demonstrator (HEL-MD) | A laser system mounted on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) designed by Boeing. Its current power level is 10 kW, which will be boosted to 50 kW, and expected to eventually be upgraded to 100 kW. Targets that can be engaged are mortar rounds, artillery shells and rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles. | Status unknown | [43] | |
Fiber Laser developed by Lockheed Martin | A 60 kW fiber laser developed by Lockheed Martin to be mounted on the HEMTT that maintains beam quality at high power outputs while using less electricity than solid-state lasers. | 2014 | Status unknown | [44][45][46] |
Free-electron laser | FEL technology is being evaluated by the antiaircraft and anti-missile directed-energy weapon. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility 's FEL has demonstrated over 14 kW power output. Compact multi-megawatt class FEL weapons are undergoing research. |
Ongoing | [47][48][49][50][51] | |
Portable Efficient Laser Testbed (PELT) | Directed energy weapon project | Status unknown | [52] | |
Laser AirCraft CounterMeasures (ACCM) | Directed energy weapon project | Status unknown | [53] | |
Mobile Expeditionary High-Energy Laser (MEHEL) 2.0 | Experimental directed energy weapon integrated on Stryker 8x8 armored vehicle. | Experimental | [54][55] | |
Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) | Experimental directed energy weapon. | Experimental | [56] | |
Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) | Directed energy weapon project. | Status unknown | [57] | |
Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) | Directed energy weapon project in the pre-prototype stage. | Pre-prototype stage | ||
Silent Hunter (laser weapon) | Chinese fiber-optic laser air-defense system. Described as being able to penetrate five 2 millimeter steel plates at a range of 800 meters and 5 millimeters of steel at 1,000 meters. | Status unknown | [58][59][60] | |
Russian Sokol Eshelon | Experimental mobile laser weapon developed by Russia. | Experimental | ||
Russian Peresvet | Mobile air-defense laser undergoing service testing as close-range mobile ICBM escorts. | Undergoing service testing | [61] | |
Raytheon laser | High-energy laser developed by Raytheon Company that can be mounted on a MRZR and used to disable an unmanned aerial system from approximately 1 mile away. | Status unknown | [62] | |
ZKZM-500 | Short-range antipersonnel less-lethal weapon that uses a laser to cause temporary blindness, skin burns, and pain. | In production | [63] | |
Northrop Grumman electric laser | Electric laser capable of producing a 100-kilowatt ray of light, with potential to be mounted in aircraft, ship, or vehicle. | 2009 | Experimental | [64][65] |
Northrop Grumman laser gun | Laser gun successfully tested by the U.S. Navy, mounted on the former USS Paul F. Foster and demonstrated destructive capability on a high-speed cruising target. | 2011 | Experimental | [66] |
Skyguard (area defense system) | Proposed area defense system. | Proposed | ||
Laser Close-In Weapon System |
Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow. | 2010 | Experimental | [67] |
Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) | Experimental fiber laser developed by Lockheed Martin. Tested at 10 kilowatts against rockets. | Ongoing development | [68][69] | |
Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD) | Laser for use aboard U.S. Navy warships. | 2011–2014 | Active deployment | [70][71] |
Almaz HEL | Russian truck-mounted directed energy weapon. | [72] | ||
Boeing Laser Avenger | Small anti-drone weapon mounted on an AN/TWQ-1 Avenger combat vehicle. | Experimental | ||
Portable Efficient Laser Testbed (PELT) | Anti-riot less-lethal weapon. | Status unknown | [73] | |
Laser AirCraft CounterMeasures (ACCM) | Directed energy weapon project. | Citation needed | [citation needed] | |
High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) | Counter-RAM aircraft or truck-mounted laser under development by General Atomics under a DARPA contract. 150 kilowatt goal. | Status unknown | ||
ARMOL | Turkish laser weapon that passed acceptance tests in 2019. | 2019 | Experimental | [74] |
AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (LaWS) | 30 kW directed-energy weapon developed by the United States. Field tested on USS Ponce in 2014 and later moved to USS Portland (LPD-27) after Ponce was decommissioned. The AN/SEQ-3 development has been superseded by the HELIOS which also has better tracking of small drones. | 2014 | Fielded Prototype | [7][75] |
HELMA-P | 2 Kw anti-drone weapon for the French military designed by CILAS and Ariane Group with a range of up to one kilometre. Developed between 2017-2019, land trials were undertaken in 2020 and 2021 while 12-14 June 2023 it was trialled at sea aboard the French destroyer Forbin mounted inside a shipping container. The developer aims to increase its output to 5 Kw. | 2017 | Prototype | [76] |
India's laser weapon | 1-kilowatt laser weapon created by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation in August 2017. Able to create a hole in a metal sheet kept at a distance of 250 meters in 36 seconds. | 2017 | Experimental | [77] |
Dragonfire |
50 kW scalable laser directed-energy weapon in development by the United Kingdom intended for use against small boats, drones and artillery shells/missiles. Completed the first two of four planned service acceptance trials in 2022. Sea trials aboard a Type 23 frigate are due to begin in 2023 and run for two years. Land based vehicle mounted applications as a point defence system are also being considered. | 2017 | In development | [78][79] |
High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) | A 60 kW laser weapon system to be tested on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and intended for use against small boats and drones, future versions may also be powerful enough to target missiles or aircraft. Unlike the preceding LaWS which attempted to synchronise six separate fiber lasers into a single coherent beam the HELIOS has Spectral Beam Combination where several individual wavelengths of laser are overlapped on top of each other through a single fiber optic emitter. No longer relying on a burst of accumulated capacitor energy also grants a new capability for sustained low emission to dazzle a drone. | 2021 | Prototype | [24] |
Pulsed energy projectile (PEP) | A controversial, truck-mounted, riot control, less-lethal laser weapon designed to stun civilians | |||
Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) | A laser weapon system installed on the USS Portland (LPD-27) that successfully destroyed a small unmanned aerial vehicle in May 2020 | 2020 | Experimental | [24][80] |
Iron Beam | An Israeli laser weapon system for anti-missile defense | In development | [81][82] | |
Light Blade | An Israeli laser system deployed as part of the Iron Dome defense system to shoot down balloons | 2020 | In use | [83] |
Minotaur | Developed by Hellenic company Soukos Robotics, the SR-42 is a large anti-drone system consisting of radio jammer, microwave jammer, optical dazzler, 12.7mm gun and laser weapon mounted on a unmanned BTR 8×8 vehicle and was unveiled at the Defence Exhibition Athens (DEFEA) in July 2021. It is designed to hit drones every 2–3 seconds with 62 individual blue-violet lasers forming a combined output of 300 Kw, its engagement range is 1 to 25 km, up to a altitude of 10 km. However to reduce thermal signature it is powered entirely by batteries with no onboard power generation giving a maximum engagement duration of 2 hours.[84] The SR-32 is version of the same laser and microwave jammer mounted on a towed trailer, it has 26 lasers producing a combined output of 100 KW with a range of 1 to 10 Km and a ceiling of 1.7 Km | 2021 | Experimental | [85] |
Most of these projects have been canceled, discontinued, never went beyond the prototype or experimental stage, or are only used in niche applications like dazzling, blinding, mine clearance or close defense against small, unprotected targets. Effective, high performance laser weapons seem to be difficult to achieve using current or near-future technology.[4][3][86]
Problems
Laser beams begin to cause plasma breakdown in the atmosphere at energy densities of around one megajoule per cubic centimeter. This effect, called "blooming," causes the laser to defocus and disperse energy into the surrounding air. Blooming can be more severe if there is fog, smoke, dust, rain, snow, smog, or foam in the air.
Techniques that may reduce these effects include:
- Spreading the beam across a large, curved mirror that focuses the power on the target, to keep energy density en route too low for blooming to happen. This requires a large, very precise, fragile mirror, mounted somewhat like a searchlight, requiring bulky machinery to slew the mirror to aim the laser.
- Using a phased array. For typical laser wavelengths, this method would require billions of micrometer-size antennae. There is currently no known way to implement these, though carbon nanotubes have been proposed. Phased arrays could theoretically also perform phase-conjugate amplification (see below). Phased arrays do not require mirrors or lenses, and can be made flat and thus do not require a turret-like system (as in "spread beam") to be aimed, though range will suffer if the target is at extreme angles to the surface of the phased array.[87]
- Using a phase-conjugate laser system. This method employs a "finder" or "guide" laser illuminating the target. Any mirror-like ("specular") points on the target reflect light that is sensed by the weapon's primary amplifier. The weapon then amplifies inverted waves, in a positive feedback loop, destroying the target, with phase-conjugate mirror". In most systems, however, the mirror overheats dramatically at weapon-useful power levels.
- Using a very short pulse that finishes before blooming interferes, but this requires a very high power laser to concentrate large amounts of energy in that pulse which doesn't exist in a weaponized or easily weaponizable form.[a]
- Focusing multiple lasers of relatively low power on a single target. This is increasingly bulky as the total power of the system increases.
Countermeasures
Essentially, a laser generates a beam of light which will be delayed or stopped by any
The Chinese
Dielectric mirrors, inexpensive ablative coatings, thermal transport delay, and obscurants are also being studied as countermeasures.[90] In not a few operational situations, even simple, passive countermeasures like rapid rotation (which spreads the heat and does not allow a fixed targeting point except in strictly frontal engagements), higher acceleration (which increases the distance and changes the angle quickly), or agile maneuvering during the terminal attack phase (which hampers the ability to target a vulnerable point, forces a constant re-aiming or tracking with close to zero lag, and allows for some cooling) can defeat or help to defeat non-highly pulsed, high-energy laser weapons.[91]
In popular culture
See also
References
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