The Fires Battle Lab at Fort Sill is now experimenting with new weapons technology that could potentially replace the howitzers and air defense missile systems of today.
Two laser systems and a railgun were demonstrated for the media at Thompson Hill Range Complex on Thursday.
The lasers are silent, invisible and deadly. On just a coffee cup's worth of diesel, they can pinpoint a drone and use auto-tracking to dog its path. Their photon beams can bring down an unmanned aerial system (UAS) by heating up one of the parts that controls its flight, such as a camera or a rotor, until it melts.
Fires Battle Lab Director John Haithcock explained how three radar systems (Sentinel, the new counter-battle Q-53 that can detect air and ground threats simultaneously and two Q-50s) and a modified Avenger weapon system with an infrared sight all come into play. He also pointed out a multi-purpose vehicle equipped with a command and control application, an electronic warfare circuit system and some enhanced sights.
There are also dismounted versions of what the vehicle has that provide counter-UAS and joint forcible entry capabilities.
Many entities are involved in the experiments. The Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center at Huntsville, Ala., brought a High Energy Laser Mobile Test Truck (HELMTT) mounted with a 10-kilowatt laser, according to Adam Aberle, who oversees the center's directed energy technology development and demonstrations.
The command also made arrangements with General Dynamics and Boeing to bring a 2-kilowatt laser mounted on a Stryker vehicle. The latter is called the Stryker MEHEL, which stands for Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser.
Fort Sill is also the site where hypersonic projectile's are being tested using Electromagnetic Railgun technology. The railgun delivers muzzle velocities greater than twice those of conventional guns.
One of those technologies being explored is whether drones can be knocked out of the battlefield skies with lasers.
"Think of it [2-10 kilowatt combat lasers] like a welding torch being put on a target, but from many hundreds of meters away," Isaac Neal, a Boeing engineer, said in a video about the new weapons system that was posted on the defense contractor's website.
In tests the lasers were able to locate, aim and fire at a small drone flying. The laser gun acts quickly (it took just 15 seconds for it to shoot the test drone out of the sky) and discreetly, according to Neal. Speedy reaction times can be important in battles when every second counts.
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Reposted via Next Big Future
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