When the US Department of Defense decided in May of this year to send a Patriot division to the Middle East to counter what it calls Iran's heightened threat, it deployed personnel that were already too worn out by periodic rotations.
“As far as missile defense forces are concerned, we in the Middle East regularly faced this problem long before this deployment,” the then deputy minister told reporters, noting that Patriot units had a duty-to-rest ratio of less than 1: 1 in May. At the beginning of the year, the overall combat duty and rest ratio was about 1: 1, 4, while the command set a goal to achieve a 1: 3 ratio.
While the US military is looking for ways to reduce the number of continuous two-shift rotations and increase the level of combat readiness, an equally pressing issue is on the agenda of how the future combination of kinetic and non-kinetic weapons will affect its combat needs.
“If you have to fight a near-equal opponent, the Patriot will be effective, but ultimately can it weaken or neutralize the threat? Perhaps not. Therefore, over time, you will see new capabilities that will be introduced into our missile defense arsenal,”
- he said, adding that future major investments in the development of directed energy weapons could change the tactical model of the army.
"Otherwise, you will continue to accumulate Patriot batteries, trying to fight more and more threats."
The Pentagon has been hunting for directed energy technologies for decades, and it often seemed that the bird was already in a cage. Many US military believe that the situation has changed radically today, and recent advances in this area give the country's armed forces hope for the early deployment of real weapons systems for various combat missions.
While the Pentagon is seemingly optimistic about the deployment of directed energy systems in the near future, especially high power lasers, there are many unresolved issues. From differences in tactical and strategic capabilities to issues related to the scalability or scalability of lasers and funding for competing projects, the military has a lot to overcome.
Changing needs
It has been nearly six decades since the laser was introduced, and for most of that time, the Department of Defense has been looking for ways to develop this technology with the goal of creating the next generation of weapons. For the air defense forces, such systems promise a lower cost per defeat and, at the same time, a decrease in ammunition consumption. For example, if China launches many cheap missiles at an American ship, then in theory a powerful laser could be used to target and destroy them.
Dr. Robert Afzal, a leading laser technology specialist at Lockheed Martin, believes that until now two factors have prevented the implementation of laser technology: the initial emphasis of the Department of Defense on the development of strategic weapons and its underdevelopment.
In the past, the military has allocated funds for directed energy research in projects such as the now-closed YAL-1 Airborne Laser program, jointly run by the US Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency. As part of this initiative, a chemical laser was installed on a modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft to intercept ballistic missiles during the acceleration phase.
"At that time, the emphasis was always on strategic confrontation, which required very large and very powerful laser systems." Today, the proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles and small boats has contributed to a partial shift in the Pentagon's short-term emphasis to tactical systems. This helps the military to gradually scale up weapons systems with an eye to dealing with new threats.
In April 2019, a discussion was held at the Brookings Institution in Washington on this issue. "I have a little vision of the short and medium term prospects for directed energy,"
- noted the senior researcher of the institute.
“Apparently, directed energy can help us in a very, very specific tactical environment. The idea of creating a large enough laser to provide a territorial missile defense system is rather unrealistic, while the protection of a specific vehicle with an active system is a little more realistic."
The then Secretary of the US Army noted that progress in directed energy was "farther than you can imagine," and the army's decision to re-establish a maneuverable air defense system for its heavy units makes it possible to deploy new laser weapons.
“Based on existing and new threats, this is a really big deal for us. As for where the technology is going, we are close to owning a deployable system that can shoot down drones, small planes and similar objects."
Technological barriers
To create high-power laser systems capable of shooting down drones, technologies of the broadest spectrum are needed. In addition to the base platform, a radar is used to detect air threats and various sensors to lock a target. Next, the target is tracked, the aiming point is determined, the laser is activated and holds the beam at this point until the UAV suffers unacceptable damage.
Over the decades, the researchers developing these lasers have been able to test a number of concepts, including massive investments in chemical weapons, before shifting the focus to scaling fiber lasers.
"The advantage of fiber lasers is that you can fit these lasers into a much smaller size,"
- said during a meeting with reporters the director of the Office of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).
The YAL-1 ABL system, for example, used a high-energy chemical oxygen-iodine laser and, although it successfully intercepted a test target in 2010, its development ceased after nearly 15 years of funding. At that point, then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates publicly questioned the operational readiness of the ABL and criticized its effective range.
One of the disadvantages of chemical lasers is that the laser stops working when chemicals are consumed. “In this case, you have a limited store, and the goal has always been to create a laser that runs on electricity. After all, as long as you have the ability to generate electricity on your platform, either through an on-board generator or a battery pack, your laser will work,”Afzal said.
In recent years, the Department of Defense has increased investment in the development of an electric fiber laser, but has also faced serious challenges, especially in the development of a laser with reduced weight, size and power consumption characteristics.
In the past, every time developers tried to increase the power of a fiber laser to the level necessary for combat missions, they built lasers of large sizes, which, in particular, created problems with excessive heat generation. When the laser system generates a beam, heat is also generated, and if the system is not able to divert it from the installation, then the laser begins to overheat and the quality of the beam deteriorates, which means that the beam cannot focus on the target and the efficiency of the laser decreases.
As the military strives to increase the power of electric lasers, while limiting the increase in the weight, size and power consumption characteristics of systems, the efficiency comes to the fore; the higher the electrical efficiency, the less energy is needed to operate and cool the system.
A spokesman for the US Army working on high power lasers said that while generators can usually power 10 kW systems without problems, problems start when the power of the laser systems is increased. "When the power of the combat laser is increased to 50 kW or more, unique energy sources, for example, batteries and similar systems, must already be used."
For example, if you take a 100 kW laser system, which has an efficiency of about 30%, then it will need 300 kW power. However, if the platform on which it is installed generates only 100 kW of power, the user needs batteries to cover the difference. When the batteries are discharged, the laser stops working until the generator recharges them again.
"The system must be extremely efficient, starting from the generation of energy and its further transformation into photons, which are directed towards the goal,"
- said a representative of Lockheed Martin.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce LibertyWorks said it has been working for over a decade to integrate a power and heat control system that can be used in high-power laser systems and has recently "made significant technological breakthroughs."
Rolls-Royce said the breakthroughs include areas such as "electrical power, thermal management, temperature control and monitoring, instant energy availability and business continuity." They added that tests of the system at the customer's site will begin at the end of this year, and if they are successfully completed, it may become possible to supply modular integrated solutions for power regulation and heat removal for army and navy programs.
Looking for solutions
DARPA and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory have successfully developed a high-power small-size fiber laser that was demonstrated in October this year. However, they refused to clarify the details of this project, including the power level.
While the military and companies have reported consistent success in the development of military lasers, Afzal said Lockheed Martin's efforts to address some of the technological challenges include "a spectral beam fusion process that is somewhat reminiscent of the cover of the Dark Side of the Moon album." by Pink Floyd ".
“I cannot make a 100 kW fiber laser if there are scaling issues. The breakthrough was made possible by the ability to expand high power fiber lasers using beam combining rather than simply trying to build a larger, more powerful laser system."
“Laser beams from several laser modules, each with a specific wavelength, pass through a diffraction grating that looks like a prism. Then, if all the wavelengths and angles are correct, then not mutual absorption occurs, but the alignment of the wavelengths in a strict sequence one after the other, as a result of which the power grows proportionally, '' Afzal explained. - You can scale the power of the laser by adding modules or increasing the power of each module, without trying to just build a huge laser. It's more like parallel computing than a supercomputer."
Together
Much attention is being paid to the potential of high-power lasers, but at the same time, the US military and industry see the potential for using high-power microwave frequencies to shoot down swarms of drones or combine them with lasers.
“Consolidation of technology may be a good solution,” General Neil Thurgood of the Office of Critical Technology told reporters. - That is, you can hit many objects with a laser. But I can hit more targets with two lasers, I can hit more targets with lasers and high-power microwaves. Work in this area has already begun."
Raytheon's directed energy expert Don Sullivan, for his part, spoke about the work in this direction. In particular, he said that Raytheon has combined a high-power laser with a multispectral sighting system in a Polaris MRZR vehicle, while developing a high-power microwave system that is mounted in a shipping container. Raytheon demonstrated these technologies separately during the Army's Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment (MFIX) in 2017 and worked together in 2018 during tests conducted by the U. S. Air Force at the White Sands Proving Grounds.
Sullivan said the laser system was used to shoot down drones flying over long distances, while powerful microwaves were used to protect the near field and thwart attacks from swarm UAVs.
"Of course, the Air Force sees and understands the complementary nature of both technologies in performing not only counter-drone missions, but other missions as well."
In the navy
When it comes to problems of mass, volume and energy resources, warships with their large size have a clear advantage over land and air platforms here, which allowed naval personnel to launch several projects at once.
The Navy is working on the Navy Laser Family of Systems (NLFoS), an initiative to deploy high-power naval laser systems in the near future. This Navy initiative includes: Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) program; RHEL (Ruggedized High Energy Laser) 150 kW high-energy laser; optical dazzling laser Optical Dazzling Interdictor for destroyers of the Arleigh Burke project; and the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS) project.
According to a Congressional Research Service report, the Navy is also implementing the High Energy Laser Counter-Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Program (HELCAP), which borrows NLFoS technology to develop advanced laser weapons to combat anti-ship cruise missiles.
The HELIOS program aims to provide surface warships and other platforms with three systems: a 60 kW laser; long-range surveillance, reconnaissance and information gathering equipment, and a blinding device for countering UAVs. Unlike other lasers tested on US Navy ships, which are installed on ships as additional systems, HELIOS will become an integrated part of the ship's combat system. The Aegis weapon system will provide fire control for standard missiles along with planning and choosing the appropriate weapon depending on the target type.
In March 2018, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $ 150 million contract (with an additional $ 943 million in options) to design, manufacture and supply two systems by the end of 2020. In 2020, the fleet plans to conduct an analysis of the HELIOS project in order to ensure that it meets the requirements.
The congressional service report notes that the integration of lasers on ships potentially provides many benefits: shorter contact time, the ability to deal with actively maneuvering missiles, accurate targeting and accurate response, ranging from warning targets to reversibly jamming their systems. However, it is noted that potential limitations remain.
According to the report, these restrictions include: line-of-sight firing only; problems with atmospheric absorption, scattering and turbulence; thermal spreading, when the laser heats up the air, which can defocus the laser beam; the complexity of repelling swarm attacks, hitting hardened targets and electronic suppression systems; and the risk of collateral damage to aircraft, satellites and human vision.
The potential disadvantages of high-yield laser weapons highlighted in the report are not unique to the Navy, and other branches of the armed forces also face similar problems.
For its part, the Marine Corps (ILC) clarified the tactics, methods and methods of combat use of the Boeing CLWS (Compact Laser Weapon System) laser system, which is installed in a transport container.
A Boeing spokesman said it intends to upgrade the CLWS system, increasing capacity from 2 kW to 5 kW. In doing so, he noted that the increase in power would reduce the time it takes to shoot down small drones. “The Navy wants a very fast system that can deliver the capabilities it wants. They are in the process of checking the characteristics of these systems, and therefore they have given us a contract for their modernization and increase in capacity."
Desire to invest
The army command throughout the first half of this year was engaged in defining current directed energy programs and developing a long-term plan for transferring projects from the development stage to the stage of practical combat use.
As part of this activity, General Turgud was given 45 days to clarify and collect all current projects in a single register. This can lead to the fact that some of them will be rejected. “Once we established the Critical Technologies Office, I made a special effort to find all competing directed energy projects. Everyone is working on what is called directed energy, and I am trying to understand what it really means and what is really going on there,”Thurgood said at a committee hearing on the armed forces.
At the end of May, the army command approved a comprehensive plan, which provides for increased investment and accelerated development of laser and microwave technologies in various army projects. During a press conference, Thurgood announced that the army has decided to accelerate the MMHEL (Multi-Mission High Energy Laser) program, in which 50-kW lasers will be installed on Stryker armored vehicles as part of a short-range air defense system. If everything goes according to plan, then by the end of 2021, the army will have adopted four vehicles with laser systems.
It is not yet entirely clear which initiatives will be merged or closed, but Thurgood said that this will certainly happen anyway. “Some people are working on, say, a 150 kW laser that will eventually be installed on a truck and trailer or ship. We do not need our own 150 kW laser program, we can combine such projects together, speed up this process and save resources for our country."
A number of directed energy initiatives, meanwhile, remain in the Army's portfolio. For example, the army used the MEHEL (Mobile Experimental High Energy Laser) laser in order to accelerate the development of promising laser systems and to work out tactics, methods and principles of combat use associated with the operation of such systems. According to the MEHEL project, the army installed a Stryker on the machine and tested lasers with a power of up to 10 kW.
In May 2019, the group led by Dynetics announced that it had been selected to develop a 100 kW weapon system and install it on FMTV (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles) trucks under the program for the development of a demonstration model of a high-power HEL laser installation TVD (High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator). This is being implemented as part of the army's work on directed energy weapons designed to combat missiles, artillery shells and mortar mines, as well as drones.
Under a three-year, $ 130 million contract, a tripartite team was formed (US Army, Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce) to prepare a critical project review that will determine the final laser design, then fabricate the system and install it on an FMTV truck. 6x6 for field testing at White Sands Missile Range in 2022.
The trio plans to increase the power of Lockheed Martin's fiber laser, for which Rolls-Royce is developing a power system. At the same time, Rolls-Royce declined to disclose whether it will use its new integrated energy management and heat exchange control system.
In 2018, the Army announced that it was separately working with Lockheed Martin to equip drones with a powerful microwave launcher to shoot down other drones. Under a $ 12.5 million contract, the duo will develop an airborne anti-drone system. Potential UAV payloads will include explosive devices, networks and microwave installations.
However, the director of the DARPA Office told reporters that despite the progress in the field of directed energy, the military is still far from integrating technology into the aircraft, and therefore ships and ground vehicles are likely to become the first basic platforms.
In the sky
The United States Air Force is also implementing directed energy projects, including those developed under the SHiELD ATD (Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator - Advanced Technology Demonstrator) prototype program, which provides for the installation of a small high-power laser system on aircraft to protect against missiles. class "ground-to-air" and "air-to-air".
Earlier this year, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced that it had achieved interim success when it used a ground test sample to shoot down multiple missiles. As technology advances, the US Air Force plans to make the system smaller and lighter and adapt it for aircraft.
The more ambitious plan of the Pentagon and the Missile Defense Agency is a flashback to President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars, which theoretically calls for the deployment of laser weapons systems in space.
In January of this year, the Trump administration published a long-awaited missile defense review, which praised the Anti-Ballistic Missile Agency's work to develop directed-energy weapons to intercept ballistic missiles in the boost phase. In 2017, for example, the Agency issued a request for information on long-range high-altitude drones that would have the payload capacity to install powerful lasers to destroy ICBMs in the boost phase. The request for proposals, issued in 2017, stipulates that the drone will fly at altitudes of at least 19,000 meters, have a payload of at least 2,286 kg and an available power from 140 kW to 280 kW. To create a promising installation for such drones, the Agency is working with Boeing, General Atomics and Lockheed Martin, exploring the possibility of implementing high-power laser technology on board UAVs.
“As for us, we place a special emphasis on capture, tracking and targeting,”
- said the representative of the Boeing company.
“These are really our core competencies, which we have developed while working with chemical lasers. Boeing has demonstrated this in all of its systems and has shown that using existing technologies, you can create a compact, highly efficient acquisition, tracking and targeting system and integrate it seamlessly into any laser device, thereby significantly increasing its capabilities."
