Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
HYPERSONIC FIGHTERS and high-power lasers are among the futuristic next-generation weapons envisioned for use by the US armed forces in a report released by the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
The 2,000-page study, New World Vistas, foresees the use of precision sensors and hypersonic missiles against surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and the development of a hypersonic fighter aircraft equipped with high-power laser beams capable of destroying air and land targets.
The report also discusses an all-weather airlift capable of precision airdrops to an accuracy of 10m (30ft), an "uninhabited" combat air vehicle (UCAV) and the need for a follow-on global-positioning system with 10mm accuracy.
Gene McCall, chairman of the SAB, says that satellite- and aircraft-borne sensors should be able to pinpoint SAM sites anywhere in the world for attack by hypersonic weapons launched from as far away as 320km (175nm) and able to strike the site a minute later.
"We can make the operation of SAM sites the world's most dangerous occupation," says McCall.
He says that it is not far-fetched to believe that high-power microwave pulses could one day be used to knock out SAM sites. Hughes Missile Systems was recently awarded a $7 million USAF contract to study whether such non-lethal pulses can be used for suppression-of-enemy-air-defences missions.
Meanwhile, the Advanced Research Projects Agency is studying the feasibility of flying unmanned, semi-autonomous, tactical aircraft in combat.
The term "uninhabited" combat aircraft is used to distinguish it from today's "unpiloted" and "unmanned" cruise missiles and futuristic reconnaissance vehicles such as the Lockheed Martin/Boeing Tier III Minus Darkstar.
The UCAVs would be extremely high-performance special-mission aircraft. They would use aircraft and weapons technologies, which cannot be used in an aircraft, which contains a human.
For example, shape and function would not be constrained by a cockpit and ejection seat required for a human body. Higher-g manoeuvres and more effective stealth will also be possible, says McCall.
USAF Secretary Sheila Widnall says that the report will be used to set the pace for limited research-and-development investments and predict future weapons systems.
"This study is not going to sit on the shelf and gather dust. We have already set aside funds for some of these promising new areas of research. We will integrate New World Vistas into the mainstream of air force planning," adds Widnall.
Source: Flight International
