Army Laser Cannon Tests Set for 2010

[NewYorkYankee]

Army Moves Ahead With Mobile Laser Cannon
By Noah Shachtman August 19, 2008 | 12:06:07 PMCategories: Lasers and Ray Guns
The Army is moving ahead with plans to mount a laser cannon on a massive, 35-ton-plus truck.

The service just handed Boeing a $36 million contract to "continue developing a truck-mounted, high-energy laser weapon system that will destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds," according to a company statement.

Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase II contract, awarded Aug. 15, Boeing will complete the design of, then build, test and evaluate, a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. Boeing also will develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD laser weapon system.

Low power demonstrations are scheduled for 2010, with battlefield-strength laser tests to follow in 2013.

About a year ago, the Army asked Boeing and Northrop Grumman to work up preliminary designs for the HEL beam control system -- and promised to choose a winning model by 2009. So the program appears to be on track. And it's one of a number of energy weapon projects that have been picking up steam, after decades of unfulfilled promise. Relatively easy-to-deploy electric lasers have just about worked their way up to weapons-grade. Boeing recently test-fired the real-life ray gun on its Advanced Tactical Laser -- a blaster-equipped gunship. Raytheon has worked up a prototype of its Phalanx mortar-shooter that uses fiber lasers, instead of traditional ammo, to knock down targets. Even the eternally-delayed Airborne Laser -- a modified 747, designed to zap ballistic missiles -- may finally get a long-awaited flight test.


Weird its called "Hel Beam Control System" that definitely gonna cause some "hell on earth" with low strength tests set for 2010 and battlefield strength set for 2013 right in between 2012

[NewYorkYankee]

Real-Life Laser Rifle: Army Goal
By David Hambling April 27, 2007 | 1:55:00 PMCategories: Bizarro, Lasers and Ray Guns, Less-lethal
The Army is looking at its Plasma Acoustic Shield System as a checkpoint defender, for now. But the original idea -- and the long-term goal of the project -- is to have it be the first baby step towards a portable, lethal laser weapon.

The effort, by the U.S. Army’s Advanced Energy Armaments Systems Division and Stellar Photonics, has a lot in common with another military laser project: the Pulsed Energy Projectile being developed by Mission Systems for the Marines. But there are three key differences. The current PEP is a big (450 lb) chemical laser with a limited number of shots, whereas PASS is a small solid-state laser that just needs electricity. The PEP creates plasma by vaporising the outer layer surface it hits (such as your shirt), whereas PASS can create plasma in mid-air by focusing to a point. And PEP fires a single pulse, whereas PASS uses a double pulse which Stellar claim is far more efficient at creating a shockwave.

You can get some idea from the Small Business Initiative Proposal the company submitted in ‘04 for a "Man-portable Integrated Laser Assault Rifle":

These systems would be portable and lightweight; the battery operated solid state laser system would be comparable in size to the Armbrust and Dragon anti-tank systems, …. The man-portable... weapons system is expected to be lethal in the range of 1-5 miles, due to the fact that no sharp focusing of the laser beam is required. Therefore, it is capable of engaging both short and long ranged targets of any kind, greatly increasing the engagement area of current assault rifles.

NOTE: The same system can also be used in non-lethal area denial to personnel applications. A pulse laser force field (shock wave) can be initiated instantaneously to prevent personnel from restricted areas.

Which all sounds good -- on paper. But solid-state lasers still don't have the kind of power needed to meet these ambitious goals. At least $1.2 million was invested in this technology before it was diverted into the more modest PASS project. But the long-term aim is still to create smaller, and more powerful, pulsed laser weapons.

“As laser technology matures, we hope to eventually be at a 1 or 2 man-portable system,” says Keith Braun of the Army’s Advanced Energy Armaments Systems.

Interestingly, Stellar describes their efforts as “bringing the power of Star Wars technology to the field, providing the needed heavy punch capability to the SOF [Special Operations Forces] at a relative low cost.” It’s an Army program, but Special Forces Command have elsewhere expressed an interest in pulsed plasma laser weapons for lethal and nonlethal uses. It’s not impossible that there is more going on here than is visible from the surface and there are other more secret programs.

The developers see the possibility of dual lethal/nonlethal capability as a major benefit.

"I've talked to a lot of the guys in green," says Braun, "the one thing they want other than more time at home and a pay raise is a system that offers primarily less than lethal effects with the option to flip a switch and 'go lethal' should things escalate to that level. Hopefully, we are on the way to getting that to them."

As a lethal system, a laser sniper rifle would be a formidable weapon: perfect accuracy at any a range measured in miles, with no windage, no drop, and no need to allow for target movement. And it would not give the firer’s position away with a report, smoke or muzzle flash – all the enemy would see would be the effect when it hits the target. Although it would have little impact on armor, it would be useful against most other targets including aircraft and helicopters.

High-energy, continuous-beam laser weapon systems like the Airborne Laser rely on massive amounts of energy to burn through the target. Short pulse lasers can do the job with much less energy, by creating an intense shockwave focused on a small area. They may also be able to create significant electro-magnetic pulse effects, and there has been work on tuning these to stun or paralyze humans.

Can a lethal laser be made small enough to be portable, including the power supply? Not this year, and maybe not in five years. But the signs are that it’s certainly coming.

Looks Like Halo is coming to real life

[GO-LF]

[Master Shake]

[amnova]

hey! thats my house

[Master Shake]

D'oh

[WARRIOR55]

Aug 20, 2008 0:25:45 GMT -6 amnova said:

hey! thats my house

Wheeewww I thought it was mine. Better you than me. ;D

[WARRIOR55]

This will really make the Russians think twice.

[RxCounselor]

Aug 19, 2008 20:43:31 GMT -6 GO-LF said: