Warfare at the Speed of Light .. Air Launched Lasers Will Soon Arm F-35s & F-22s
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By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington DC)
Air warfare at the speed of light, burning holes through armor of enemy tanks and pinpointing enemy fighter jets with optical sensors and lethal weapons .. are all critical things laser-weapons are expected to perform firing from F-35s, F-22s, F-16s, F-15s and even cargo planes.
Form factor is central to the equation, as laser weapons have been operational for many years now, however on Navy ships, ground installations or other platforms where there is sufficient space, weight and power to power up lasers with sufficient force for effective periods of time. Most of all, expeditionary electrical power is needed in small enough form with sufficient power density to support and sustain high-powered laser weapons. At the same time, thermal management is also critical to laser weapons as they can generate very intense levels of heat which might destabilize some of the electronics on a platform.
These challenges considered, the Air Force has been making rapid and impactful progress developing laser weapons for fighter jets, and it is now estimated that they are actually not far away. Ground tests have shown great promise, the Navy is now operationalizing lasers on its destroyers and the Army is firing lasers from Stryker vehicles, so it won’t be long before the F-35 and F-22 are flying with high-powered precision laser weapons.
Within just the last few years, the Air Force has now been conducting some air-fired tests of laser weapons as well. Lockheed Martin, for example, has delivered the LANCE air-fired laser system called Laser Advancements for Next-Generation Combat Environments, according to a report in The Drive last year.
AFRL Ground & Air Tests
The U.S. Air Force is refining its combat strategy, tactics, and concepts of operation to accommodate the rapid emergence of laser weapons, technologies that promise to alter the landscape of modern warfare and substantially expand the envelope of attack possibilities for fighter jets.
The service anticipates having aircraft and fighter jet-fired lasers in operation sometime in the next several years, as mobile power systems and other integral technologies continue to evolve rapidly. Not only do laser weapons bring increased precision attacks at the speed of light to incinerate targets, but they can be scaled or adjusted to achieve a desired effect – such as total destruction, partial damage, or an even smaller, more measured impact, depending upon the threat.