“Lasers have been promised for a long time, but they’ve never held up and delivered what was asked for, so the operators are rightfully skeptical,” said Deputy Secretary Mary J. Miller, noting that that’s why extended testing is occurring. But “there will be steps along the way where we spin off lesser capable laser systems that can do good things on smaller platforms. Those will come out soon.”
High-energy laser weapons have been proposed as an alternative to the extant Indirect Fire Protection Capability program, which aims to protect ground assets from attacks via Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), cruise missiles, rockets, artillery, and mortars.
It appears that each branch of the U.S. military is staking to claim their own part in laser warfare.
In Dec. 2015, CNN reported that the U.S. Air Force Research laboratory claimed it was on track to demonstrate working laser weapons on a fighter jet by 2020. Additionally, the laboratory is working on laser defenses. Such a defense system would actually be a 360-degree shield around the jet, capable of destroying anything that penetrates its bubble.
According to Popular Science, the U.S. Office of Naval Research plans on testing their Ground-Based Air Defense Directed Energy On-the-Move weapons program this year by demonstrating that the laser weapons, which are aboard trucks, can hit multiple targets while moving.
Boeing has also previously announced that it was awarded a $29.5 million contract to develop laser systems for U.S. Navy warships.
Currently, the Air Force is working with U.S. Special Operations Command to fit offensive lasers aboard the AFSOC AC-130 gunship. That remark was made by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition’s David Walker, who is the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering.
With much future development planned, lasers are poised to change the battlefield, and perhaps warfare altogether.
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