Air Force Research Laboratory created the self-protective high energy laser demonstrator SHiELD program. It includes a pod that contains a laser gun and a beam controlling system. This pod can be fitted onto a military fighter jet. According to an AFRL Press Release on July 10, the system will be tested by 2024.
The self-protect high energy laser can be used to protect fighter planes against air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. It could also be deployed on older fighters or transports, as well as airborne control and warning planes.
Ultimately, the self-protect laser would need to be able to integrate with fire control systems, a problem that requires an understanding of how much space, power and cooling each subsystem needs, Dr. Robert Afzal, a Lockheed Martin senior fellow in laser and sensor technologies in Bothell, Wash., told Seapower Magazine.
This presents a problem, particularly in terms beam stability and power, when it comes to atmospheric turbulentence. But it's something the developers are working to overcome, he added.
Another potential challenge is integrating a mobile laser onto an aircraft with its own power source, which may be a portable generator or another form of fuel. This is the reason why the Air Force Research Lab's (or afrl), directed energy directorate has made significant investments over the past decade to develop such capabilities.
Inside Defense reports that an initial effort in this direction was a 50 kilowatt laser mounted upon an eight-wheeled Stryker combat vehicles. The laser was tested by the Army last spring. The Stryker's laser proved to be capable of tracking and defeating drones and mortar rounds measuring 60 millimeters in size.
According to afrl these capabilities could be used for a wide range of tasks including defense against missiles and engaging enemy targets in the air or ground within visual range. This technology could be integrated into fire control systems to aid in the guidance of weapons.
Gunzinger explained that distributed operations make these weapons ideal for reducing attack vulnerabilities. Gunzinger stated that these weapons were a good fit for small, light vehicles. They could even be built using dune buggies' backs.
He said that it was still challenging to integrate them onto a fighter aircraft. The AFRL has faced several delays on the SHiELD project, and it is unsure when these will be resolved.
Afrl’s directorate for directed energy has been developing technologies for high -energy laser weapons for over 30 years. Its goal is to produce a fully operational air force laser weapon by the mid 2020s. The directorate is looking for ways to make a laser weapon more scalable by incorporating coherent beam combined-tiled array high-energy laser sources that can be arranged in panelized, gimbal-mounted configurations to generate a large output beam.
According to its website the budget of the AFRL’s directed energy department is about $355million. It runs a variety programs that help to transform these technologies into functional weaponry, including two airborne demonstrations.