US Army doubles down on laser tag with $95M for prototyping
- Reference: 1716403511
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/05/22/us_army_energy_weapons/
- Source link:
BlueHalo, makers of the LOCUST counter-drone laser system, [1]announced its R&D bankrolling by the Army Space and Missile Defense Command yesterday. The company said it would use the funds, awarded as part of the Laser technology Research Development and Optimization (LARDO) program, to improve size, weight, and power of its laser weapons.
Current LOCUST systems are outfitted with AI able to track, identify, and engage targets with a laser that BlueHalo describes as a "hard-kill" high-energy laser.
[2]
Hard-kill systems, in military jargon, are those that destroy enemy weapons, craft, and personnel, as opposed to soft kills, which disable the aforementioned. The advantage to using laser weapons for hard kills over kinetic weapons is that drones [3]or vehicles can be disabled with far less noise, destruction, and potential for collateral damage.
[4]
[5]
In order to kill airborne enemies – particularly drones, LOCUST's primary purpose – LOCUST can output a beam with as much as 20 kW of output power.
All that power means LOCUST is relatively stationary. It can be dropped in place and used modularly, as the unit is self-contained, but doesn't appear to be usable on the move. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, has demoed its own [6]50 kW DEIMOS system that is designed for mounting on a Stryker combat vehicle.
[7]
In other words, BlueHalo will need those funds if it intends to put more bang behind its pew-pew. These systems, however, have already been reportedly proven in combat.
The Army has fielded LOCUST units in the Middle East since 2022, where it's been using them to take down drones, missiles, and mortar shells. According to [8]Forbes earlier this month, LOCUST is able to melt sensitive drone parts in seconds, destroying them; the report marks the first time the US military has confirmed its use of laser weapons in the field.
[9]Planned European death ray may not need Brit boffinry brain-picking
[10]US military's latest toy set: Record-breaking laser death star, er, truck
[11]Pentagon fastens lasers to military drones to zap missiles out of the skies
[12]'First production-line energy weapon' now shipping
And it's not like we haven't been dreaming of laser weapons for decades. [13]According to the DoD, its research into the weaponization of lasers has been ongoing since the technology was invented in 1960. Multiple efforts over the years have failed to get a true directed energy weapon out of the laboratory stage, but here we are: Actually in the laser warfare age.
It's unknown what sort of future laser weapons will come out of BlueHalo's research grant. It hopes to improve automation, efficiency, and performance as well as make the units more rugged, but whether we can expect to be carrying around something as small as a laser rifle anytime soon is far less clear.
Of course we asked. We just haven't heard back yet. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://bluehalo.com/bluehalo-awarded-95-4m-smdc-contract-to-advance-directed-energy-technology/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zk5q-hcu22yZfvU05E0dJgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/26/lockheed_martin_lights_up_50kw/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zk5q-hcu22yZfvU05E0dJgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zk5q-hcu22yZfvU05E0dJgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/26/lockheed_martin_lights_up_50kw/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zk5q-hcu22yZfvU05E0dJgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2024/05/06/army-laser-weapons-drones/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2018/04/20/euro_laser_cannon_research/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2017/03/17/us_military_gets_truckmounted_lasers/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2016/01/21/pentagon_antimissile_lasers_on_drones/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2008/10/02/northrop_vesta_ii_ships/
[13] https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA557756
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Wonder if the new super-high charge capacitors are part of the equation
Damn sure I don’t want to live in a world with laser weapons “outfitted with AI able to track, identify, and engage targets”. I thought there was an international moratorium on such things but that’s probably just my wishful thinking.
Price?
Because currently both Ukrainian and Russian forces are using shotguns to shoot small drones down.
Part of the issue, that the US pork barrel hasn't realised yet, there is little point using a $10 million system to hopefully knock out a $500 drone, especially when there are hundreds of them.
Re: Price?
The effective range of a shotgun is fairly low, even against a DJI drone.
Cost is a factor, but the laser is probably capable of firing more than one shot.
Re: Price?
Depends on how many shots the $10 million system can fire, and at what cost per shot (in terms of energy, plus maintenance)
If one system could defend an entire base or medium size city, that may be pretty reasonable. Certainly way better than any system firing projectiles. A shotgun may be much cheaper, but you have to be close enough to whatever you're shooting at that you could be dead if you detonate the explosives it is carrying.
Re: Price?
If you have a $10 million system that is knocking down multiple $20 drones and in doing so defends a system worth 30 million, is that a worthwhile exchange? I'd suggest that the answer is yes. There is always more to a cost analysis than just what flies out the barrel.
Wonder if the new super-high charge capacitors are part of the equation
Very quick discharge rates and good recharge. Coupled perhaps with the newer flywheel energy storage systems that have been tested in ship-borne weapons.
Not sure I want to live in a world where we can all be fricasseed in a split second versus one where several grams of high-velocity kinetics are necessary.