Northrop Grumman Corporation intends to build on its enduring advances in laser technology through the US Department of Defense's Robust Electric Laser Initiative (RELI), which is seen as a first step towards more efficient, compact and lightweight systems.
According to Defense Talk, the US Army's Missile Defense Command Center in Huntsville, Alabama, has awarded Northrop Grumman an initial $ 8.8 million contract. for a period of 2 years with the right to replace it with another five-year contract in the amount of 53, 3 million dollars.
The RELI program should increase the efficiency of laser systems by 30% or more by creating beams with a power of 25 kW, with the possibility of increasing it to 100 kW. It is argued that such a unit can be placed on a military platform. Existing solid-state lasers currently, according to the US Department of Defense, have an efficiency of no more than 20%.
“The RELI program is a natural extension of our previous successful Joint High Power Solid State Laser program, which was successfully completed in early 2009,” said Steve Hixson, Vice President, Systems Engineering directional power transmission of the aerospace systems sector of Northrop Grumman.
“Thanks to RELI, we are confident that the US Department of Defense will be able to expand the use of laser technology for military purposes,” he said. The goal of the program is to create a reliable, deployable system that can be easily used both in conjunction with other innovations and developments of the US Department of Defense, and separately - by special order in all branches of the armed forces.
