Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:54:01 +0200
US Military's New Laser Gun Zaps Drones
<http://www.livescience.com/> LiveScience.com
By Elizabeth Palermo, Staff Writer
September 15, 2014 02:28pm ET
The U.S. military is now one step closer to having a laser gun that can
shoot down enemy drones in the blink of an eye.
Boeing recently announced that its mobile laser weapon, dubbed the High
Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD), successfully shot down more than
150 drones, rockets and other mock enemy targets in a third round of tests.
The trials prove that the
<http://www.livescience.com/37940-how-do-laser-weapons-work-infographic.html
> laser weapon is reliable and capable of consistently "acquiring, tracking
and engaging a variety of targets in different environments," according to
Boeing.
The most recent demonstration of the 10-kilowatt, high-energy laser took
place at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The laser was installed on a
military vehicle, making it the first mobile, high-energy laser built and
demonstrated by the U.S. Army, according to Boeing. [
<http://www.livescience.com/41321-military-war-technologies.html> 7
Technologies That Transformed Warfare]
Directed-energy technologies like the HEL MD could soon be used by the
military to augment what are known as kinetic strike weapons, such as
missile interceptors, that don't contain explosives but destroy targets by
colliding with them at extreme speeds.
Kinetic strike weapons are expensive, and the HEL MD could offer "a
significant reduction in cost per engagement," Dave DeYoung, Boeing's
directed-energy systems director,
<http://boeing.mediaroom.com/2014-09-04-Boeing-Laser-Demonstrator-Destroys-T
argets-through-Wind-and-Fog#assets_117> said in a statement.
This push for laser weaponryis part of the U.S. military's Ground-Based Air
Defense Directed Energy On-the-Move (GBAD) program. The goal of the program
is to provide what officials from the Office of Naval Research call an
"affordable alternative to traditional firepower," to guard against drones
and other enemy threats.
The recent demonstration of Boeing's mobile laser weapon is just a prelude
of things to come. By 2016, the military plans to have a 30-kilowatt laser
gun ready for testing, according to the Office of Naval Research.
And Boeing isn't the only defense contractor working with the military to
develop high-powered laser weapons. In August, the Office of Naval Research
awarded Raytheon an $11 million contract to build a vehicle-mounted laser
device <http://www.livescience.com/46288-military-laser-weapons.html>
capable of shooting down low-flying enemy targets. The system will
reportedly generate at least 25 kilowatts of energy, which will make it more
than twice as powerful as the laser recently tested by Boeing.
<http://news.yahoo.com/us-militarys-laser-gun-zaps-drones-132903413.html>
US Military's New Laser Gun Zaps Drones
Boeing's High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD).
Credit: Boeing
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