Air Force Research Laboratory created the self-protective high energy laser demonstrator SHiELD program. It includes a pod that contains a laser gun and a beam controlling system. This pod can be fitted onto a military fighter jet. According to an AFRL press statement, the system will undergo testing by 2024.
Self-protect high-energy lasers can be used for fighter aircraft protection against missiles and surface-toe-air attacks. It could also be deployed on older fighters or transports, as well as airborne control and warning planes.
Ultimately, the self-protect laser would need to be able to integrate with fire control systems, a problem that requires an understanding of how much space, power and cooling each subsystem needs, Dr. Robert Afzal, a Lockheed Martin senior fellow in laser and sensor technologies in Bothell, Wash., told Seapower Magazine.
He stated that this is a difficult problem in terms both of power and beam stability, especially when it comes down to atmospheric turbulence. He added that developers are working towards overcoming this problem.
Another challenge could be the integration of a mobile laser onto an aircraft that has its own power source. It may be a portable fuel generator or another type of fuel. The Air Force Research Lab's directed energie directorate (or afrl) has invested heavily in the development of such capabilities over the past decade.
Inside Defense reports that an initial effort in this direction was a 50 kilowatt laser mounted upon an eight-wheeled Stryker combat vehicles. The laser was tested by the Army last spring. The laser from the Stryker was tested and found to be able track and defeat three sizes of 60-millimeter mortar rounds as well as drones.
According to Afrl, these capabilities could be used in a number of ways, including for the defence of aircraft against incoming rockets and the engagement of enemy targets on ground or in air within visual reach. The technology could also be incorporated into fire control systems to help guide weapons.
Gunzinger stated that these weapons can be used in distributed operations, which reduces the vulnerability to attack. These weapons are great for small and light vehicles, Gunzinger added.
However, integrating them on fighter aircraft remains a difficult task. The AFRL has faced several delays on the SHiELD project, and it is unsure when these will be resolved.
Afrl's directed energy directorate has been focused on developing technologies for high-energy laser weapons since the 1980s, with the goal of delivering a fully operational laser weapon for the air force by the mid-2020s. The directorate is exploring ways to make the laser weapon more flexible by incorporating coherent beam combination-tiled array high -energy laser sources that are able to be placed in panelized, fixed-mounted configurations to create a large beam.
The AFRL's directed energy directorate has a budget of about $355 million, according to its website. It has a number of programs aimed at maturing these technologies into functional weapons, including two airborne demonstrations that AFRL is conducting now.