Posted on 04/17/2017 9:35:29 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
The Army has upgraded the power of its emerging Stryker-mounted laser weapon 5kW and confirmed the new weapon's ability to incinerate numerous enemy drones and launch offensive attacks during ongoing testing at Fort Sill, Okla., service officials said.
No bullets were fired, and no sounds were made as the experimental laser, called Mobile High-Energy Laser (MEHEL), destroyed drone targets during recent testing. Silent defense and attack provide a substantial tactical advantage as it can afford Stryker vehicles the opportunity to conduct combat missions without giving away their position.
Army officials said that after a few attempts to destroy the drone with the laser, the drone fell from the sky, crashing to the ground.
"We are working with Space and Missile Defense Command, using their MEHEL to engage various targets, to include low-flying UAS," Lt. Col. Jeff Erts, Chief of Experimentation and Wargaming, Fires Battle Lab, Fires Center of Excellence, said.
Adam Aberle, SMDC High Energy Laser Division technology development and demonstration lead said the testing verified that a radar and laser could be mounted on a Stryker vehicle so that it could self-cue targets.
During ongoing testing, the laser weapon has successfully shot down 21 out of 23 enemy drone targets.
The effort marks the first-ever integration of an Army laser weapon onto a combat vehicle.
“The idea is to provide a solution to a capability gap which is an inability to acquire, track and destroy low, slow drones that proliferate all over the world,” Tim Reese, director of strategic planning, General Dynamics Land Systems, told Scout Warrior in an interview.
The weapon is capable of destroying Group 1 and Group 2 small and medium-sized drones, Reese added.
The laser,, will be integrated into the Fire Support Vehicle Stryker variant designed for target tracking and identification. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at scout.com ...
“Drones - yes. Artillery and mortar rounds - pipe dreams.”
i noticed in the article it took SEVERAL attempts at melting a drone.
So we must assume you are calling them liars or at best have no idea what they are trying to accomplish.
About 15 years ago a contractor developed a countermeasure that detected incoming mortar rounds and sent a timed signal to the mortar round fuze telling it that it was at the right location to detonate. The signal would be sent when the round was several hundred meters or more from the impact point. It was deployed to the Balkans and in Desert Storm.
Liars or optimists - take your pick. We all know that military procurement never buys or discusses vaporware.
OK. Not sure how this is relevant to a laser discussion
If the laser can’t do in a mortar or artillery round the countermeasure may do the trick. Then use of the laser in a counterfire role may be unnecessary.
I see - yes it potentially could. But, that only works on radar proximity fuzes. The old fashion contact fuzes are unaffected. I don't know what percentage have radar fuzes these days.
There have been weapons since the 80s that can locate the source of mortar or artillery rounds (it backtracks the arc of the round). The star Wars Defense systems that Reagan pushed, that the Dems laughed at, proved itself in Desert Storm downing scuds. Yes, there are a lot of issues, developmental, logistical, practical (just because something doesn’t reach its target doesn’t mean it isn’t lethal). The Patriot system is far from perfect. Also, you can overwhelm such systems with sheer volume. Policing agencies have weapons that scramble the signals that control drones to down them. While there is a long way to go (heck, they’re still perfecting conventional munitions), it is very much in the realm of possibility.
I doubt it. we couldn’t get in close enough to do a IR kill.
However, it only takes one bad part to fail to cause the launch mishap.. one carefully chosen bad part, supplied by China.
Sheesh...we've been at war for 16 years, you'd think people would've learned something about the military by now.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
About 15 years ago a contractor developed a countermeasure that detected incoming mortar rounds and sent a timed signal to the mortar round fuze telling it that it was at the right location to detonate. The signal would be sent when the round was several hundred meters or more from the impact point. It was deployed to the Balkans and in Desert Storm.
Then it should be able to send the signal to a mortar round as soon as it is armed thus eliminating the mortar crew right?
What I would like to see is the laser detonate the mortar round just as Haji is dropping it down the tube.
Good blooper’s material.
very cool- thanks for that link-
It might not be perfect because targeting can be confused by smoke or maybe some sort of chaff.
A laser emits an EM wave which could be blocked.
And NK rockets
Radio Shack has been gone for years.
It may be able to knock out projectiles at apogee - tough to calculate trajectory and track quickly enough later in flight.
Did I not type,or would have? That was referring to your point as past tense.
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