Vehicle-based laser weapons inch toward reality
Raytheon will conduct work to develop a vehicle-based laser weapon device under an $11 million contract announced on 13 August. The work will be carried out as part of the Office of Naval Research’s Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) Directed Energy On-the-Move Future Naval Capabilities programme.
The contract will see Raytheon develop and demonstrate a short-range laser device capable of being mounted on a Humvee that can defeat low-flying threats such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). With a minimum power output of 25kW, the laser weapon system will be packaged to meet the size, weight and power requirements of the US Marine Corps.
The work will draw on Raytheon’s planar waveguide (PWG) technology, which is capable of generating sufficient power to effectively engage small aircraft.
Bill Hart, vice president, Raytheon Space Systems, said: ‘Raytheon's laser solution generates high power output in a small, light-weight rugged package ideally suited for mobile platforms.
‘Our PWG laser architecture is scalable: we can achieve increasingly higher power levels with the same compact design we're using for GBAD. Raytheon is paving the way for fielded directed energy weapon systems in the very near future with the demonstration of a marine Humvee-based high energy laser.’
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
How the Ukraine war is shifting the US Army’s EW capabilities
The branch has been planning multi-billion dollar investments in reliable communications and solutions to prevent enemy detection.
-
Smart Shooter modernises systems and considers integrated solutions
Israeli company’s fire control system will be upgraded to feature a new camera and an additional 50m in range.
-
Aselsan launches new batch of anti-drone solutions at SAHA Expo
The launch of these four different solutions highlights the company’s ongoing strategic aim to design and develop technologies to combat UAVs.
-
Raytheon transitions GhostEye MR radar into production phase
The sensor was recently tested by the US Air Force and US Navy and will continue to undergo testing and evaluation.