The US is developing a high output laser to counter hypersonic missiles and drones deployed by China after conducting successful tests. On edge are US leaders who have witnessed China leapfrog them in several technologies, which prompted a lack of technology defense against them.
US aerospace, defense firms develop high output laser weapons
This high output laser weapon is the answer to China's advancements in weaponry that it needs to address America's vulnerability.
After the Chinese hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) went around the world at low orbit and slammed its target, speeding at Mach 5+, this terrified the Pentagon.
According to the US military, the aerospace and defense firms, Boeing and General Atomics Electromagnetics Systems (GA-DMS) are working on fabricating a 300-kilowatt solid-state laser as an offense and defense weapon, reported the Sun UK.
The new weapon, Distributed Gain High Energy Laser Weapon System (DGHELWS), combines GA-DMS' laser technology with Boeing's target acquisition tools and software. The system will track and focus on the target while shooting, as cited by Defense News.
Scott Forney, GA-EMS president, said that it is a high-powered compact directed energy weapon (DEWS) that should be a lethal DEWS at the military's disposal.
He added the tech is a next-generation defense for air and missiles for the army to fix advanced threats on any battlefield.
The contract was given to the team on October 25, several days after the Chinese HGV circled the earth. Promoting the need for such a defensive technology like the high output laser to defend against hypersonic missiles and drones, noted Al Jazeera.
But, the nuclear warhead capable missile had hit nearly 24-miles away when launched last August.
The US response to counter Chinese HGV technology
This directed energy weapon system is the highest output laser so far, man-portable, agile, hi-performance, and cost-effective.
According to Dr. Michael Perry, General Atomic's vice president for lasers and advanced sensors, the laser (DEWS) is packaged in the seventh version that has been tested. He added that it has dual Gen 7 laser heads mounted in a very compact and lightweight form.
Recent developments enabled single beam DG lasers, similar to fiber lasers in simple design, with no need for beam combination. Should it be engineered successfully, it could take out small drones to fast-moving missiles.
The directed energy weapon system needs a lot of power to project a light beam that should burn through any object's shield, and a short and powerful burst is required to knock out any target.
Developing a power source is the most important step to enable an effective DEWS to be fielded in combat and versatile as man-portable and mountable on vehicles.
Dr. Perry said that the DGHELWS is a customized aerial defense to intercept cruise missiles, manned planes, UAVs, rockets, or shells.
It can either be powered by batteries or hooked to a power source for maneuverability for a full 300kw output. Depending on the intensity of the directed energy weapon, it will dictate what weapon systems it can attack. Hence the need for 300kw to generate an intense beam.
Dr. Perry added that it is critical to generate higher intensity for a certain type of target. It's a new technology yet to be perfected over kinetic impact weapons too.
Power is the key to powering the 'Star Wars' laser and managing the range and dwell time to neutralize hypersonic missiles and drones in an advanced kind of superpower era.
