The U.S. army demonstrated the capabilities of the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) in maritime conditions.
The laser cannon is mounted on top of a vehicle and proved its ability to blast aircrafts out of the sky. It was able to target a number of aerial targets at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Boeing reported.
"Under windy, rainy and foggy weather conditions in Florida, these engagements were the most challenging to date with a 10-kilowatt laser on HEL MD," said Dave DeYoung, Boeing Directed Energy Systems director. "As proven at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in 2013 and at Eglin Air Force Base this spring, HEL MD is reliable and capable of consistently acquiring, tracking and engaging a variety of targets in different environments, demonstrating the potential military utility of directed energy systems."
HEL MD used a 10-kilowatt, high-energy laser that was installed in an Oshkosh tactical military vehicle. The demonstration marks the first high-energy laser, counter rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) platform to be created and tested by the U.S. Army.
"With capabilities like HEL MD, Boeing is demonstrating that directed energy technologies can augment existing kinetic strike weapons and offer a significant reduction in cost per engagement," DeYoung said. "With only the cost of diesel fuel, the laser system can fire repeatedly without expending valuable munitions or additional manpower."
The demonstration proved to be successful. Boeing hit all of the performance objectives and hit over 150 aerial targets, including a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In future demonstrations the team will install a 50 or 60 kilowatt laser on HEL MD to show off its ability to counter RAMs and UAVs.
The Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense solutions and is known for manufacturing extremely versatile military crafts.
WATCH:
