Posted on 08/17/2020 7:13:06 PM PDT by marktwain
The Defense Department expects to stand up its first battalion of Stryker vehicles outfitted with high-powered laser weapons by some time next year, Army officials say.
Expect to have the first battalion fielded in 2021 with four battalions by 2023, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command chief Lt. Gen. Dan Karbler told the audience at the virtual Space Missile Defense symposium on Tuesday
The so-called "laser battalion," as Defense One described it, would eventually deploy the new 50 kw Directed Energy-Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (DE-MSHORAD) Stryker that the Army is working to field by 2022, a ten-fold power increase over the 5 kw-class system that artillery soldiers have been testing in Germany since early 2018.
Defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are currently competing to manufacture the new laser system, with plans for a "shoot off" between the two prototypes at Fort Sill in Oklahoma some time in May 2021, according to Breaking Defense.
A platoon of four laser Strykers prototypes will end up in the hands of an actual combat unit some time in 2022, according to Breaking Defense, with the laser system integrated into the vehicles' existing hardware as soon as this December.
(Excerpt) Read more at taskandpurpose.com ...
I like it!
Reagan was a great President!
President Trump is looking to outclass him, given a second term.
DOD or Dad?
This is a Truly
Weird Thread.
They seem to have a lot of recent field experience........
Sight ‘em in on Antifa
I worked on adaptive optics systems for high-bandwidth free space optical communications. We were working with AFRL and NRL. Everything you’ve stated is public domain knowledge.
Shoot and scoot?
Military needs shark shaped drones...with frickin lazers...
We have been working to develop tactical and strategic lasers for at least 45 years.
I supported a test in which a helicopter was shot down by laser in 1975, as I recall.
They have already been fielded, with limited capability.
These are 10x stronger, with another 3x on the horizon.
That would reach the level of being able to shoot down cruse missiles.
*************
That’s all cool and everything, and I do hope it turns out all to the good, but...
The old infantry grunt part of me is saying “I’ll take ‘Crap that won’t work as advertised for $1000.00, Alex’”.
I’m just glad it’s not more of that exoskeleton stuff. If it can make it so an infantryman *can* carry 1000lbs, then said infantryman *will* be required to carry 1000lbs. And when the damn thing breaks down, the infantry outfit will still have to carry the loadout, plus the damn exoskeleton.
ping
Isn’t space already at absolute zero?
Holy supercapacitors, Batman!
Darn, I was trying to find that gif. Thanks!
Now... take that turret ... make it six inches high ... dial down the power to say .5 kilowatt, place on a flat field, rotate 360° and you have the world’s fastest lawn mower.
I seriously doubt UV lasers. More power per photon, but UV lasers are seriously harder to make, less robust, and harder to operate.
Infra-red all the way. Mirror tolerances are much less demanding.
Missiles are also detectable by infrared too - leading edge heating is a thing.
All I want for Xmas is a high power laser and a 6 pack!
Just what you see, pal.
CC
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