The Watcher
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some day BVR will be an ancient technology. no?
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Laser weapons slowly shifting from science fiction to reality
The U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser uses a megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) that will destroy ballistic missiles. Chemical lasers are the most powerful lasers available today.
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - Last year U.S. Air Force F-16 jet fighter pilots the High-Energy Laser Fighter - better-known as the HEL Fighter - by firing the aircraft’s high-energy laser cannon at targets acquired by radar.
No, this was not Star Trek come to life but actually a computer simulation in a computerized war-game of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.
During the exercise, called Advanced Concepts Event or ACE, pilots used the newly developed laser-armed F-16 simulator to prepare for aerial combat once laser weapons become available. The simulator also enables Air Combat Command experts to *develop tactics, techniques, and procedures for future laser battles.
“We started this effort nearly four years ago,†notes Rudy Martinez, the HEL Fighter project officer at the AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate. “We wanted to merge an F-16 simulator with a laser weapon system so that a pilot could blend flying experience with the skills needed to operate a revolutionary speed-of-light weapon.
Improvements to HEL Fighter are in the works. One of those improvements, according to Martinez, is to use lasers, rather than radar, to acquire targets in an air battle. Until then, Martinez adds, that experience will only be available through simulators like the HEL Fighter and exercises such as ACE.
These types of laser weapons have yet to be fielded; needed, and under development, are solid-state lasers and compact electrical sources that can power high-energy laser weapons.
Today’s military is looking to deploy lasers that are invisible to the naked eye and require a large-scale design to generate enough heat to destroy targets such as missiles, says Ed Pogue, Director, High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL JTO) in Albuquerque, N.M. The weapons would also not make any noise, he adds.
The HEL JTO coordinates the Air Force, Army, and Navy’s efforts to develop high-energy laser weapons.
Weapons systems continue to appeal to the Air Force and to the U.S. Department of Defense, says Bruce Simpson, *director of the AFRL Directed Energy *Directorate. Most of the money - in the hundreds of millions - still goes to the U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser program, Simpson says. AFRL programs are usually in the tens of millions when it comes to funding, he adds.
We could always use more money for the right program and the right time line, Simpson says. The goal is to do things “cheaper, better, faster.â€
AFRL experts are looking at three types of lasers for destroying targets: chemical lasers, solid-state lasers, and *optical-fiber lasers.
Chemical lasers The biggest laser is currently in development at the AFRL Directed Energy *Directorate - the U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser (ABL), which deploys a chemical laser to destroy ballistic missiles in flight, and other targets.
full piece with images click here
-----------------------------------------------
Laser weapons slowly shifting from science fiction to reality
The U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser uses a megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) that will destroy ballistic missiles. Chemical lasers are the most powerful lasers available today.
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - Last year U.S. Air Force F-16 jet fighter pilots the High-Energy Laser Fighter - better-known as the HEL Fighter - by firing the aircraft’s high-energy laser cannon at targets acquired by radar.
No, this was not Star Trek come to life but actually a computer simulation in a computerized war-game of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.
During the exercise, called Advanced Concepts Event or ACE, pilots used the newly developed laser-armed F-16 simulator to prepare for aerial combat once laser weapons become available. The simulator also enables Air Combat Command experts to *develop tactics, techniques, and procedures for future laser battles.
“We started this effort nearly four years ago,†notes Rudy Martinez, the HEL Fighter project officer at the AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate. “We wanted to merge an F-16 simulator with a laser weapon system so that a pilot could blend flying experience with the skills needed to operate a revolutionary speed-of-light weapon.
“A pilot would fly his F-16 differently in a laser battle compared to a more traditional fight using guns or missiles,†Martinez continues. “With guns and missiles a pilot has to maneuver to approach a target from behind or from the side. But with a laser weapon that pilot can have more latitude. That’s because the laser fires through a turret mounted underneath the plane. The turret allows the laser to fire on either side or straight ahead, so the pilot doesn’t have to do as much maneuvering.â€
Improvements to HEL Fighter are in the works. One of those improvements, according to Martinez, is to use lasers, rather than radar, to acquire targets in an air battle. Until then, Martinez adds, that experience will only be available through simulators like the HEL Fighter and exercises such as ACE.
These types of laser weapons have yet to be fielded; needed, and under development, are solid-state lasers and compact electrical sources that can power high-energy laser weapons.
Today’s military is looking to deploy lasers that are invisible to the naked eye and require a large-scale design to generate enough heat to destroy targets such as missiles, says Ed Pogue, Director, High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL JTO) in Albuquerque, N.M. The weapons would also not make any noise, he adds.
The HEL JTO coordinates the Air Force, Army, and Navy’s efforts to develop high-energy laser weapons.
Weapons systems continue to appeal to the Air Force and to the U.S. Department of Defense, says Bruce Simpson, *director of the AFRL Directed Energy *Directorate. Most of the money - in the hundreds of millions - still goes to the U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser program, Simpson says. AFRL programs are usually in the tens of millions when it comes to funding, he adds.
We could always use more money for the right program and the right time line, Simpson says. The goal is to do things “cheaper, better, faster.â€
AFRL experts are looking at three types of lasers for destroying targets: chemical lasers, solid-state lasers, and *optical-fiber lasers.
Chemical lasers The biggest laser is currently in development at the AFRL Directed Energy *Directorate - the U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser (ABL), which deploys a chemical laser to destroy ballistic missiles in flight, and other targets.
full piece with images click here