No one was surprised by the fear of the Americans about the tests of promising hypersonic gliders, which were able to cover huge distances from 100 to 120 km in just 1 minute, which Russia and China had successfully carried out. And it is not surprising, because already at the beginning of the 20s, by no means experienced products will plow the vastness of the stratosphere over the key geostrategic regions of the world, but completely serial vehicles carrying promising combat and electronic equipment at cruising speeds of 4, 5M and maximum 6-6, 5M …
Their weapon compartments can house from units to hundreds of modern compact air attack weapons, high-speed reconnaissance "stealth" UAVs, unmanned jammers based on the frightening Americans "Khibiny", etc. Without exaggeration, Moscow's "gift" in this area can be considered a prototype of the Ju-71 hypersonic UAV launched from the UR-100N Stilette ICBM (RS-18A). This event led to such a commotion in the minds of the Pentagon that just a year later, all the American defense departments were put on their ears and "harnessed" to search for an asymmetric answer that did not take long, but did not offer anything smart either.
As it became known on May 6, 2016 from the Washington Free Beacon, the US Missile Defense Agency plans to invest $ 23 million in the development of an advanced concept of laser weapons of the future, which, in their opinion, should finally secure the West against modern Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles. … This was stated by the head of the agency, James Cyring. His initiative was supported by Congressman Trent Fanks, accusing Moscow and Beijing of deliberately changing the concept of modern warfare. Cyring, without going into the technical subtleties of the issue, even managed to set the dates for the start of tests of the American "laser pointer" (2021). And Franks in general spoke about superiority. But what do they have, and what have we already invented?
The Americans managed to bring to mind the project of the 1-megawatt YAL-1A air combat laser, developed on the basis of the Boeing 747-400F. The entire YAL-1A laser complex, represented by 3 laser systems (TILL - tracking, illumination and correction of the optoelectronic sighting system; BILL - correction of atmospheric distortion at long ranges; HEL - six-beam combat laser) was able to successfully hit 2 ballistic missiles at the initial (acceleration) segment of the flight path. We continue to work on a similar A-60 today. Also, over the past two years, the Americans managed to develop and test 2 more experimental combat lasers with a power of 33 and 50 kW, respectively.
The first product, structurally similar to a small telescope, installed on the USS Ponce landing craft, is called LaWS. At the end of 2014, this laser system was able to "hit" a small drone and several fast boats of the imaginary enemy. But the power of 33 kW made itself felt. In the video of the tests, it is clearly seen that the boat plating did not suffer a bit: special stands were installed on the boats themselves, on which fixed targets were placed with an explosive that was very sensitive to heating, which detonated when the LaWS beam was guided. The small drone was also destroyed in a very suspicious way: it simply "pecked" its nose down in pitch, as if everything was originally intended in the flight program. And you try to work on a 4-meter "Harpoon" or "Tomahawk"? Then brag.
In 2015, a more powerful laser appeared on the HEL-MD wheeled chassis. Judging by the video from You Tube, over a long period of time, the installation was still able to disable the UAV's optoelectronic reconnaissance complex, and then its control system, but the HEL-MD was not used according to real WTO samples either.
The power of the YAL-1A, of course, cannot be underestimated, and no one doubts that Boeing will be able to develop a lot of more powerful land, sea and air-based analogues, but the Star Wars business is not as simple as it might seem at first glance.
Our specialists can already offer a lot of methods for protecting subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic aircraft from laser weapons used by the enemy. They are based on the latest research in the field of thermodynamics and nanostructures projected on the physicochemical properties of various types of solid and liquid rocket and aviation fuels. Here are some of the most effective ones.
Firstly, this is the coating of the outer side of the aircraft with special ablative materials based on hydrocarbons, which will evaporate after prolonged exposure to a laser beam, preventing the aircraft body from heating up.
The second technique can be represented by the introduction into the inner side of the body of special lattice-cellular structures cooled by capillaries with antifreeze. This method can be safely combined with the first.
The third method is represented by the accelerated transmission and distribution of the laser thermal spot from the aircraft body to liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon fuel. Special 4-blade propellers with needles that receive and give off heat energy act as conductors here.
There is also an easier way that can be combined with all of the above. It consists in creating rotation of the aircraft around its axis (roll) due to oblique nozzles of the gas-dynamic system of rotation or gas-dynamic rudders. But this method is applicable exclusively to cylindrical objects such as ICBMs, etc.
There are many more methods of protection against combat lasers, which will be discussed in our next reviews. But one thing remains obvious: the next 23 "lemons" from the American treasury will fly to the wind.
