- The U.S. Army is looking for a directed energy (DE) weapon
or weapons that could be developed relatively quickly to generate more
enthusiasm for the technology, according to a service official.
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- While the service is exploring more than a dozen DE technologies
in the belief that such weapons have significant potential, many of the
Army's weapons developers will be more likely to focus on DE as a solution
to their needs when the technology is successfully demonstrated in a realistic
setting, said Army Col. James Pierson of the Army Space and Missile Defense
Command (SMDC).
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- During the Army's recent directed energy summit, service
officials agreed on the need to identify "low-hanging fruit"
that could be turned into an "early success," said Pierson, who
helped organize the high-level meeting.
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- The summit, held April 13-14 in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
brought together about 85 leaders of Army organizations to kick off development
of a strategic plan for the service's DE programs (DAILY, April 13). The
plan, which the Army hopes to complete by the end of September, is intended
to set research priorities for lasers and other DE weapons.
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- Several significant DE systems already are vying for
Army attention and funding, but each faces technological hurdles.
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- While Sparta Inc.'s Zeus, a Humvee-mounted laser system,
has destroyed unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan, it still has significant
limitations, including its reliance on other forces to detect ordnance,
Pierson said late April 16.
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- The Army is expected later this year to award a contract
to Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a prototype of the Mobile Tactical High
Energy Laser (MTHEL). But while a fixed-site demonstrator has successfully
shot down artillery shells and Katyusha rockets, the size of the chemical
laser has to be reduced significantly to make it mobile, which is considered
a key requirement for battlefield use.
-
- The Army has expressed interest in the Solid State Heat
Capacity Laser (SSHCL) as a potential weapon on ground vehicles, believing
it ultimately would have advantages over chemical lasers, including requiring
a smaller logistics burden. However, the technology for electrically driven,
solid-state lasers is considered even less mature than that of chemical
lasers.
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