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 ...
How do you dump the waste heat? With a space fan.
Hmm, I had no idea about the difficulties of UV lasers.
My Father - My Dad
oh ha ha spelled dad dod - need glasses.
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