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Weapons grade. First integrations will likely be an enhanced Avenger, the AC-130 Spectre gunship and perhaps the F-35B Lightning II fighter (they'd take out the STOVL lift fan then add a 20 MW generator driven by the fans drive shaft, the laser and a domed targeting mirror). There have also been articles about integrating it and a microwave weapon into combat UAV's.
Just found this article on LaserFocusWorld;
Advanced Tactical Laser = a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) made small enough to fit into the Spectre gunship.
Just found this article on LaserFocusWorld;
Photonic Frontiers: laser weapons - Pumping up the power
The next frontier for high-power solid-state lasers could be use on the battlefield. Military researchers are shooting for 100 kW operation by the end of 2008, and weaponized versions in the next decade.
A big shootout is coming on the laser weapon frontier. By the end of next year, Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA) and Textron Defense Systems (Wilmington, MA) are to demonstrate 100 kW output from competing diode-pumped solid-state lasers. The tests are sponsored by the Joint High Power Solid State Laser Program (JHPSSL) at the Air Force Research Laboratory (Kirtland AFB, NM) to show that solid-state lasers can meet military power requirements. Meanwhile, the Army Space and Missile Defense Command (Huntsville, AL) is evaluating industry designs for a beam-control system for its High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD). The Army plans to integrate a ruggedized solid-state laser with the beam-control system on a wheeled vehicle for tests against targets in 2013.
These developments are vivid demonstrations of the tremendous progress in solid-state lasers. Diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers are leading the 100 kW race, but military researchers also are developing high-power fiber lasers and diode-laser arrays for direct use as weapons. The armed services are looking at their battlefield needs. Northrop Grumman, builder of the only three megawatt-class U.S. gas lasers, in January opened a facility for making high-power solid-state lasers and integrating them onto military vehicles. “We firmly believe that directed energy is going to revolutionize the way we fight wars,†says Dan Wildt, director of business development for directed energy systems at Northrop Grumman.
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Battlefield lasers don’t have to match the range of megawatt-class lasers developed for long-range missile defense. Military planners consider 100 kW the threshold for defense over the scale of a battle, a few kilometers. The joint office’s goal is to demonstrate that power with a solid-state laser-each armed service has its own plans for using such lasers. The Army envisions mounting a laser in a truck or tracked vehicle to defend against rockets, artillery, and mortars (RAM in military jargon). This year the Air Force will test a chemical laser called the Advanced Tactical Laser in a C-130 “laser gunship,†and is considering putting a solid-state laser in a variant of its forthcoming Joint Strike Fighter. The Navy envisions laser defense of ships against cruise missiles.
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The next frontier for high-power solid-state lasers could be use on the battlefield. Military researchers are shooting for 100 kW operation by the end of 2008, and weaponized versions in the next decade.
A big shootout is coming on the laser weapon frontier. By the end of next year, Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA) and Textron Defense Systems (Wilmington, MA) are to demonstrate 100 kW output from competing diode-pumped solid-state lasers. The tests are sponsored by the Joint High Power Solid State Laser Program (JHPSSL) at the Air Force Research Laboratory (Kirtland AFB, NM) to show that solid-state lasers can meet military power requirements. Meanwhile, the Army Space and Missile Defense Command (Huntsville, AL) is evaluating industry designs for a beam-control system for its High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD). The Army plans to integrate a ruggedized solid-state laser with the beam-control system on a wheeled vehicle for tests against targets in 2013.
These developments are vivid demonstrations of the tremendous progress in solid-state lasers. Diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers are leading the 100 kW race, but military researchers also are developing high-power fiber lasers and diode-laser arrays for direct use as weapons. The armed services are looking at their battlefield needs. Northrop Grumman, builder of the only three megawatt-class U.S. gas lasers, in January opened a facility for making high-power solid-state lasers and integrating them onto military vehicles. “We firmly believe that directed energy is going to revolutionize the way we fight wars,†says Dan Wildt, director of business development for directed energy systems at Northrop Grumman.
>
Battlefield lasers don’t have to match the range of megawatt-class lasers developed for long-range missile defense. Military planners consider 100 kW the threshold for defense over the scale of a battle, a few kilometers. The joint office’s goal is to demonstrate that power with a solid-state laser-each armed service has its own plans for using such lasers. The Army envisions mounting a laser in a truck or tracked vehicle to defend against rockets, artillery, and mortars (RAM in military jargon). This year the Air Force will test a chemical laser called the Advanced Tactical Laser in a C-130 “laser gunship,†and is considering putting a solid-state laser in a variant of its forthcoming Joint Strike Fighter. The Navy envisions laser defense of ships against cruise missiles.
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