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Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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New Army Laser Could Kill Cruise Missiles
Instead of building a 100-kilowatt weapon, the Army now plans to leap straight to 250 or even 300 kW -- which could shoot down much tougher targets.
5 Aug 2019
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/08/newest-army-laser-could-kill-cruise-missiles/
The next step was going to be a 100-kW weapon called the High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD), built by Dynetics and Lockheed Martin, with demonstration shots in 2022. But on Friday the Army said it would be “adapting” this effort into a 250-300 kW weapon called HEL-IFPC, with the first platoon of four prototypes — not demonstrators, but operational weapons — to enter service in 2024.
When I inquired what exactly “adapting” meant, the Army clarified they are no longer going to build the 100-kW HEL-TVD. Instead, senior scientist Craig Robbin explained through a spokesperson, “the Army will take the HEL-TVD through a Critical Design Review, leverage that work and apply the outcomes to the 250-plus kW effort.”
It’s not yet clear what will happen to the $130 million contract awarded in May to Dynetics and Lockheed. The Army could either modify it to have the same contractors build the more powerful weapon — presumably for more money — or end the current contract and hold a new competition.
Whatever the contract mechanism, why does the Army now believe it can get a weapon up to three times as powerful in just two additional years? Part of the answer is an increased sense of urgency and tolerance for risk across Army. The service has slashed almost 200 lesser programs to fund faster fielding of its Big Six priorities for major war, which range from 1,000-mile missiles to robotic tanks to VR training. No. 4 of the Big Six is improved air and missile defenses, without which the rest of the force would be fatally vulnerable to Russian or Chinese precision-guided weapons.
Last December, the Army combined its most technologically challenging efforts — hypersonic missiles and laser weapons — under a new Rapid Capabilities & Crucial Technologies Office, led by Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood, the service’s highest-ranking acquisitions Program Executive Officer. Army leaders have made clear their goal is not only to field weapons faster but to stop wasting time and money reinventing the wheel. Initiatives that duplicate work already underway elsewhere in the Army or in its sister services will be cut.
And there is a lot of work underway across the Defense Department on lasers (as well as hypersonics). In May, the Air Force shot down several anti-aircraft missiles with a ground-based laser, a forerunner of a self-defense pod called SHIELD meant to go on US planes; it’s also developing a ground-attack laser for the AC-130 gunship. Meanwhile, the Navy, having already fielded a 30-kW laser in the Persian Gulf, is now developing a 60-150 kW weapon, HELIOS, for its new Arleigh Burke destroyers. And Thomas Karr, a physicist who works for Pentagon R&D chief Mike Griffin as assistant director for directed energy, is running a project with all three services on scaling up high-energy lasers to higher power levels. The Army is “leveraging” Karr’s work and “coordinating” with the Air Force and Navy, a service spokesperson said.
Instead of building a 100-kilowatt weapon, the Army now plans to leap straight to 250 or even 300 kW -- which could shoot down much tougher targets.
5 Aug 2019
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/08/newest-army-laser-could-kill-cruise-missiles/
The next step was going to be a 100-kW weapon called the High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD), built by Dynetics and Lockheed Martin, with demonstration shots in 2022. But on Friday the Army said it would be “adapting” this effort into a 250-300 kW weapon called HEL-IFPC, with the first platoon of four prototypes — not demonstrators, but operational weapons — to enter service in 2024.
When I inquired what exactly “adapting” meant, the Army clarified they are no longer going to build the 100-kW HEL-TVD. Instead, senior scientist Craig Robbin explained through a spokesperson, “the Army will take the HEL-TVD through a Critical Design Review, leverage that work and apply the outcomes to the 250-plus kW effort.”
It’s not yet clear what will happen to the $130 million contract awarded in May to Dynetics and Lockheed. The Army could either modify it to have the same contractors build the more powerful weapon — presumably for more money — or end the current contract and hold a new competition.
Whatever the contract mechanism, why does the Army now believe it can get a weapon up to three times as powerful in just two additional years? Part of the answer is an increased sense of urgency and tolerance for risk across Army. The service has slashed almost 200 lesser programs to fund faster fielding of its Big Six priorities for major war, which range from 1,000-mile missiles to robotic tanks to VR training. No. 4 of the Big Six is improved air and missile defenses, without which the rest of the force would be fatally vulnerable to Russian or Chinese precision-guided weapons.
Last December, the Army combined its most technologically challenging efforts — hypersonic missiles and laser weapons — under a new Rapid Capabilities & Crucial Technologies Office, led by Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood, the service’s highest-ranking acquisitions Program Executive Officer. Army leaders have made clear their goal is not only to field weapons faster but to stop wasting time and money reinventing the wheel. Initiatives that duplicate work already underway elsewhere in the Army or in its sister services will be cut.
And there is a lot of work underway across the Defense Department on lasers (as well as hypersonics). In May, the Air Force shot down several anti-aircraft missiles with a ground-based laser, a forerunner of a self-defense pod called SHIELD meant to go on US planes; it’s also developing a ground-attack laser for the AC-130 gunship. Meanwhile, the Navy, having already fielded a 30-kW laser in the Persian Gulf, is now developing a 60-150 kW weapon, HELIOS, for its new Arleigh Burke destroyers. And Thomas Karr, a physicist who works for Pentagon R&D chief Mike Griffin as assistant director for directed energy, is running a project with all three services on scaling up high-energy lasers to higher power levels. The Army is “leveraging” Karr’s work and “coordinating” with the Air Force and Navy, a service spokesperson said.
