Raytheon is close to bringing ‘Star Wars’ directed-energy weapons to airports and battlefields with its laser area defence system (LADS) and Vigilant Eagle anti-missile and rocket systems.
LADS is designed to protect troops in theatres like Iraq and Afghanistan from attack by enemy mortars, IEDs and short-range rockets, like the Qassam. A development of the rapid-fire Phalanx close-in weapons system that automatically fires 22mm shells at incoming missiles, this version would be more at home on ‘Star Trek’.
Mike Booen, Raytheon’s vice president advanced missile defence directed energy weapons, says: “LADS uses an off-the-shelf 50kW industrial laser to blast incoming munitions. In tests with a 20kW laser we were able to destroy mortar shells at 500 yards (450m). Our tests show that this should be extended considerably with the 50kW model.
“The benefits of using photons and not bullets are huge,” says Booen. “You have an unlimited supply and the system needs little maintenance.
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“In just six short months, Raytheon and government engineers went from an idea to operational field testing. Our solid-state LADS proves you don't have to wait another three to five years for solid-state lasers to be used on the battlefield. They are ready now.”
The full system is currently under test and could be in service within 12 months. And Raytheon’s Vigilant Eagle system could soon be protecting airports against the threat of man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS).
“Aircraft are at their most vulnerable when they have just taken off and are fully-laden with fuel,” says Booen. “Vigilant Eagle uses infra-red detection to sense the missile’s plume and then trains high-power microwave energy at the missile to divert it from its path.”
Booen says this is more cost-effective than fitting a directional infrared counter measures (DIRCM) system to each aircraft. “Airlines cannot afford the weight or cost of fitting DIRCM,” says Booen. “The estimates show that it would cost $30bn to equip 70% of all aircraft in the US – it isn’t going to happen.
Raytheon is testing Vigilant Eagle under a US Department of Homeland Security demonstration contract and evaluations off the system are underway at undisclosed airports. Booen says that Raytheon expects a decision on whether the system could be rolled out across the US by the end of the year.
Source: Flight International