Do laser weapons that are silent and invisible are deployed to the battlefield in earnest?

US Navy releases a laser gun launch experiment with 100 yen per shot, And the existence of laser weapons that have been forgotten at a time is beginning to be noticed again. Is the day when laser weapons destroying objects with low cost / low energy will be active in full swing on the battlefield, on the current state of laser weaponsNature NewsIt is summarized.

Military technology: Laser weapons get real: Nature News & amp; Comment
http://www.nature.com/news/military-technology-laser-weapons-get-real-1.17613#/


There is a vehicle called HEL MD which is manufactured by Aerospace giant Boeing and carries laser weapons developed for the US Army. Laser weapons installed in HEL MD are those developed by the US and Europe in recent years, which use optical fiber for the beam, inexpensive and easy to carry. The output of the laser is measured in kilowatts (KW) units, and in 1983 President Reagan planned the AmericanStrategic Defense ConceptionAlthough it is smaller than megawatt (MW) which was supposed to be output, it functions as a reality, unlike the strategy defense plan. Furthermore, testing this laser weapon can be done with less budget than conventional defense budget, yet it is also important to show enough power to overwhelm attacks from terrorist groups.


Meanwhile, the US Navy announced a laser weapon called the Laser Weapon System (LaWS), targeting small boats used by terrorists and pirates, in late 2014, and actually launched LaWS as a shipping landing ship "USS Ponce ) "We deployed.

The following article is helpful for what the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) is.

The US Navy has released a laser gun launch experiment of 100 yen per shot, and it can handle powerful destructive power with a sense of feeling as well - GIGAZINE


As can be seen from the two examples above, defense and safety experts are beginning to receive lasers as realistic, Paul, an advanced technology expert at the American Security Center (CNAS) said, "A half century research "The US military is at a turning point to deploy laser weapons on the battlefield," he says in a report published on April 1, 2015.

Initially, it was in 1996 that the United States began irradiation laser project to intercept ballistic missiles. It was a plan to develop a weapon that heats and destroys the missile's fuel tank at pinpoint, making it uncontrollable. Since "energy that can be output by the laser" necessary to realize the plan can not be generated by electric power,Oxygen-iodine chemical laser (COIL)Was used. However, in order to put it on the Boeing 747, the COIL is very large and the space to carry the laser fuel does not remain in the Boeing 747, so the US Department of Defense has become tough and the plan was canceled in 2012.

Fiber laser was developed in 1963, almost after 1990IPG photonicsThe development was advanced. Fiber lasers use optical fibers, collecting optical energy from light weaker than light used in DVD, amplifying collected light by 30% or more and converting it to laser. Since the beginning of 2000, IPG photonics advanced the development of laser for industrial use for welding, attracting attention of military researchers. actually,F-22YaF-35We are developing such asLockheed MartinHas started using laser of IPG photonics and has announced a laser weapon called ADAM which can destroy ship and drone etc from 1.5 kilometers away in 2012.


In the case of HEL MD made by Boeing, very little fuel is needed to disable the target, so the energy that produces the 10 KW laser is derived from the engine or generator of the vehicle. In terms of cost, it is also an excellent point to require less than $ 100,000 (roughly 12 million yen) for rockets and less than $ 10 (about 1200 yen) for fiber lasers.

Mr. Braunt, Boeing engineer, emphasizes that the resurgence of laser weapons is due to advanced image recognition and the performance of the fiber laser itself. Thanks to the advanced tracking system using image recognition, the HEL MD test autonomously running in May 2014 has been successful. However, since the laser is silent and can not be seen by the eyes, and the target does not necessarily explode, it is said that he incorporated sound into HEL MD so that people can understand. Although the test was successful, the attack power of laser weapons has problems. With 10 KW laser weapons, there is no power to deploy anywhere.


In 2012, the German missile development companyMBDAIt is an approach with a fiber laser of 40 KW, succeeded in destroying objects 2 km away. Mr. Marcus of MBDA argues that laser weapons will minimize damage to non-target compared with conventional explosives such as rockets, but full-scale operation of laser weapons will take 3 to 5 years It is predicted to be. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has already reported the existence of a laser weapon called ATHENA that can destroy the engine of a running truck. In addition, according to Paul of advanced technology experts, since normal weapons such as rockets are still effective in places where mist can be found, if we are five to ten years or so, laser weapons are part of the US military and real It may be deployed in a similar way.