Ground Based Lasers To Protect Airliners

Katyusha that things is WW2 the Russians used them in the battle of stalingrad to pound the germans because their howitzers we gone. When they fired teh Katyusha the Germans freaked out they didnt know what hitem. As for the THEL its been reported by people in Iraq that it has been used there. That its been used to target enemy tanks and APC'S halftracks etc. There was a story about this a while back THEL was mounted not on a trailer but on a tank i dunno maybe an M1 it kind looked like a prisim tank from RED Alert 2. But then again Intelgurl has the scoop seeing how Raytheon works closely with Northrop and Raytheon has some serious missle defense platforms and advanced targeting systems.

Originally posted by Kriskaos
Katyusha that things is WW2 the Russians used them in the battle of stalingrad to pound the germans because their howitzers we gone. When they fired teh Katyusha the Germans freaked out they didnt know what hitem. As for the THEL its been reported by people in Iraq that it has been used there. That its been used to target enemy tanks and APC'S halftracks etc. There was a story about this a while back THEL was mounted not on a trailer but on a tank i dunno maybe an M1 it kind looked like a prisim tank from RED Alert 2. But then again Intelgurl has the scoop seeing how Raytheon works closely with Northrop and Raytheon has some serious missle defense platforms and advanced targeting systems.

Kriskaos,

That's interesting about the German reaction to the Katyusha... usually when one thinks of rockets and WW2 they think of Germany's V2 and that sort of development. Thanks for sharing that~

Regarding the THEL, I'm not associated with the project and consequently much of what I know on the subject comes from inter-office rumors, company press releases, some of the nice slick brochures in the front lobby, company intranet, etc.

THEL & Beyond
What I do know about Raytheon and this technology is that Raytheon is making major strides in the development of 2nd gen tactical laser weapons, specifically the goal of a 100kw solid state laser.

Currently a 100kw laser is possible but the high-brightness diodes used to make weapons grade lasers cost about $100 per watt which sounds easy enough. The current hurdle that development is trying to jump is in the cooling of the weapons grade diodes. Current cooling technology can only accomodate 10% efficiency on these diodes which means that instead of $100,000 worth of diodes that are 100% efficient, it requires $1 million worth of diodes that are 10% efficient - this makes for a prohibitive cost and size per individual unit, especially since there is only $49 million allocated for the development.

However, once this cooling issue is resolved the 100kw solid state laser will be a candidate weapon for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, now in development at Lockheed Martin.
It is understood that the vertical takeoff version of the F-35 JSF has a shaft-driven lift fan, which, if removed, would open up an ideal spot for the solid state laser. Not only is there ample space where the lift fan is, but the shaft that drives the lift fan develops 27,000 horsepower, which is more than adequate to power a 100kw solid state laser.

In the process of developing the 100kw laser, 15kw & 25kw solid state lasers have been developed and can be expected to be mass-produced in the not too distant future. Platforms and uses vary, but it is rumored that TRW's 25k version would be mounted to the X-45 UCAV and used to "disable" cruise missiles and ground targets. Raytheon's 25kw version, which is reported to have far better beam quality than TRW's is rumored to be in development in a pod that can be fitted to fighter/attack aircraft. The beam from both versions can burn a hole through metal from a distance in excess of 3 km.
Raytheon's 15 kw laser could be ready for deployment for US Army ground forces and may actually be in use on a trial basis by now.

Thoughts about the Facts & beyond the Facts:

It could be that a variety of these various strength lasers actually saw action in the Iraq war.

One thing that I base that on was that before the war began, we know through the various news agencies that the US Army and Air Force were both touting this war to be the first war where "direct energy weapons" would see extensive combat use... Other news reports that sounded to me much like a pre-game show for the SuperBowl, spoke of the Iraq war being the first 21st century war with 21st century weapons that no adversary of the US has ever seen before.

Strangely enough however, when the actual war took place, I was actually expecting to see Mobile THEL's on the back of tractor trailer trucks lined up just behind the front lines, but no such images appeared. With all of the hype coming from both military analysts and high ranking military officials it would seem to indicate that these systems were probably in use but were not made available for public consumption.

Another consideration is that the big sandstorm right before hostilities began could have thwarted efforts to utilize these weapons at least in the initial phase of the war - or - their use was masked by other known weapon systems. For this latter thought I am reminded of several scud misslies that were downed by Patriot PAC3 missile defense systems, and one unfortunate British Tornado driver who got nailed by what was reported to be a PAC3. It could very well be that MTHEL's were used to down some of these incoming Scuds and then the credit given to PAC3 which is a marketable system, where the THEL is not for commercial export except to the IDF.


Masking secret systems or systems in development with known systems is a standard operating procedure within the defense industry. One example of this is the reactivation of the SR-71 after reports of high-flying fast movers causing sonic booms so large that the US Geological survey referred to them as "sky-quakes".

Since the SR-71 was not operational when these "sky-quakes" first started the general consensus is that something else is being operated in the black that is producing these sonic phenomena. In fact, the SR-71 has never been known to produce this sort of sonic boom... But now, when these incredible sonic phenomena occur the Air Force just shrugs their shoulders and say, "huh, must've been an SR-71"...
This is what I mean by saying that a secret program is masked by a known program.


Well I could blither on but if I don't get some work done I'll end up joining the ranks of those people who stand at intersections with one of those "will work for food" signs...

Documentation:
Promotional brochure on The State of Solid State Lasers
National Defense Magazine, Dec 2002
Personal opinion and discussions





[Edited on 23-1-2004 by intelgurl]

Really nice post Intelgirl.
Will you marry me?