Marines to equip trucks with LASERS guns to shoot down enemy drones
Combat vehicles may soon be equipped with laser weapon systems to fend off enemy drones and aircraft.
Laser weapons and Stinger missiles could be integrated into detection systems and mounted on vehicles, including Humvees and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, to better protect ground units.
A Ground-Based Air Defense (GBAD) Directed Energy On-The-Move will soon head into the next phase of development, enabling the vehicles to fire lasers while in motion.
Combat vehicles may soon be equipped with laser weapon systems to fend off enemy drones and aircraft. Laser weapons and Stinger missiles could be integrated into detection systems and mounted on vehicles, including Humvees and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, to better protect ground units
The program led by the Office of Naval Research is about to move on to Phase 3, the US Naval Institute News reports.
As of now, the system mounted atop a ground vehicle can fire a 30 kilowatt-laser while stationary.
When completed in 2022 it will be able to fire on the go, and will likely be used by the Marine Corps to be paired with the Stinger Missile system.
This would give ground units a long overdue upgrade, after decades of operation with the Stinger.
According to Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, a deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for combat development and integration, the air defense capabilities are ‘a weak area that we have not upgraded in a long time because we haven’t had to deal with that in the operating environment we’ve been in,’ UNSI reports.
Walsh spoke this week at the second annual Directed Energy Summit.
The Marines are already working on new systems to detect incoming threats, including the Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar, and the Common Aviation Command and Control System, which would combine the data into one operating platform.
This would then be given to the Direct Air Support Center, who can provide low-altitude air defense barriers (LAAD) information about any incoming threats, UNSI explains.
US Army reveals truck-mounted laser to shoot down drones
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As of now, the system mounted atop a ground vehicle can fire a 30 kilowatt-laser while stationary. When completed in 2022 it will be able to fire on the go, and will likely be used by the Marine Corps to be paired with the Stinger Missile system. In the stock image above, soldiers take aim with Stinger missiles
‘Get them the feed so they can see it, now they know the target is coming and they can shoot it with a Stinger, compared to now where the Marines send someone out with binoculars to look for threats in the air,’ Walsh said after the presentation.
‘But the laser would tie right into that.’
‘Eventually if you could transition away from the missiles to go directed energy-only, we would do that,’ Walsh said.
The Army is separately working on a mobile laser system, which may one day turn into a joint program with the Marines to build a smaller, more powerful laser.
It’s hoped that such a system could go up against larger UAVS, or even rockets, artillery, and mortars.
A directed energy system is already used in aviation, Walsh says, acting as a self-protection tool in the Directed Infrared Countermeasures on CH-53 helicopters, and will son expand to other vehicles.
As development continues, Walsh said field exercises are necessary to get comfortable with the use of these technologies, as the focus moves ’to how quickly can we get out there and use it.’
UAV 'DEATH RAY' KNOCKS OUT DRONES FROM MILES AWAY
A UK-developed system capable of jamming signals on UAVs is going to be trialed by the US aviation authority.
The system uses high powered radio waves to disable drones, effectively blocking their communication and switching them off in midair.
A thermal imaging camera allows the Auds operator to target the unwanted drone before signal jamming, via a high-powered radio signal, is activated.
A UK-developed system capable of jamming signals to small drones is going to be trialed by the US aviation authority. The system (pictured) uses high powered radio waves to disable drones, effectively blocking their communication and switching them off in midair
Auds can detect a drone six miles (10km) away using electronic scanning radar, track it using precision infrared and daylight cameras and specialist video tracking software before disrupting the flight using an inhibitor to block the radio signals that control it.
This detect, track, disrupt, defeat process is very quick and typically takes 8-15 secs.
The Auds team has now carried out over 400 hours of 'live' testing in government related trials against more than 400 flown sorties of group 1 UAVs.
The Navy’s “Laser Weapon System” (LaWS) prototype aboard ship.
CAPITOL HILL: Lasers that can shoot down incoming missiles have been a work in progress since Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” days. Now, the Army and Navy not only have working demonstration models but ambitions to field real-world weapons circa 2021. This time, insisted Pentagon science advisor Howard Meyer this morning, it’s really going to happen.
Why so confident? I asked Meyer, himself a veteran of the Airborne Laser program cancelled in 2012, after his remarks to a small Marshall Institute seminar in the Congressional Visitor’s center this morning. The differences are both tactical and technological, he told me. Not only have lasers gotten better, the military’s expectations have gotten lower — and the urgency of the threat has gotten higher.
Technologically, as in so many other areas, commercial industry is leading the way: “I can buy lasers for welding, for cutting, [etc.],” Meyer told me. “There are thousands of these systems out in industry applications all over the world.”
In fact, the Navy’s “laser weapon system” (LaWS) is basically just six commercial welding lasers “strapped together,” Congressional Research Service analyst Ronald O’Rourke had noted earlier at the event. The six lasers don’t even cohere into a single beam, he said, they just “converge at the target.” The simplicity of that approach, O’Rourke argued, is what has allowed the Navy to advance LaWS quickly and affordably to the point that, this summer, it will head to the Persian Gulf for at-sea tests.
LaWS also embodies the more modest and yet more urgent missions the military now envisions for lasers. Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative envisioned a belt of satellites to shoot down Soviet warheads in space. The enormous flying airborne laser focused on shooting down a few ballistic missiles — say, a North Korean strike — shortly after launch, when warhead and rocket booster are still attached in one large, combustible target. The ABL technology actually worked, said Meyer, but the equipment and chemical power supply filled a converted 747, and the military felt the vulnerable aircraft would be easily shot down before it got into laser range.
By contrast, both the Navy LaWS and the Army’s “mobile high-energy laser demonstrator” are relatively small solid-state lasers, able to fit on a ship and a truck respectively. They’re also designed to fire over relatively short distances at targets much slower and less durable than a ballistic missile, targets such as small drones, fast-attack boats, precision-guided mortar rounds, tactical rockets, or — at the high end — anti-ship cruise missiles. Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have most of these weapons already and are working on the others, and many expects predict cheap precision-guided weapons will proliferate worldwide in the near future.
Meyer agrees. In future conflicts, “I am going to have mortar rounds or cruise missiles or UAVs coming in,” he told me. “We will be absorbing G-RAMM [guided rockets, artillery, mortars, and missiles]. We either have to take it out or we have to suffer the losses.”
That’s the urgent but achievable mission driving the Army and Navy programs. The shipboard LaWS generates just 33 kilowatts of laser energy and still manages to shoot down slow-moving drones in tests; the Navy wants to build a follow-up model generating roughly 60 to 100 kw, potentially mounted on the small Littoral Combat Ship or the mid-sized Arleigh Burke destroyer. The Army, meanwhile, is looking at laser defense platoons with either three 100-kw lasers mounted on large trucks or five 50-kw lasers mounted on smaller Stryker armored vehicles.
These power levels can take out cruise missiles, drones, and manned aircraft at ranges of a few miles. Longer ranges would require hundreds of kilowatts, however, and killing a ballistic missile in boost phase would take about a thousand kilowatts — one megawatt or more. An ICBM warhead, designed to survive the heat of reentry, is practically laser-proof.
So the lasers likely to be fielded in the early 2020s will be modest self-defense systems, one part of a larger array of countermeasures ranging from Patriot-style anti-missile missiles to electronic jamming, cyberwarfare, and simple preemptive strikes. “Directed energy is acomplement to existing kinetic capabilities,” Meyer emphasized to the Marshall Institute audience. “These are not replacement capabilities.
Precisely because they’re not supposed to be superweapons, however, they’re also more achievable. Speaking alongside Meyer this morning was the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment’s Mark Gunzinger, whose 2012 report advocating defensive lasershelped jump-start high-level interest. Since then, Gunzinger told the group, both the Army and Navy have started official technology maturation and demonstration programs aimed at initial operational capability in the 2020-2022 range. (“In the Air Force, they still don’t have much other than basic research,” Gunzinger said — a fact Meyer attributed to the challenges of cramming lasers into an aircraft). But the problem with the Army and Navy demonstration effort, said Gunzinger, is that “we really don’t have a program to transition that to a full program of record,” something the military officially and formally has declared its intent to buy. It’s very difficult to buy more than a couple of systems unless you’ve established a program of record with its own line items in the budget.
When Gunzinger and his CSBA colleagues started exploring laser weaponry three years ago, he said, they expected that technological problems would be the major limiting factor: “We came out of that study saying, mmm, it really might be more [about] resources.” And given the current pressure on the defense budget, resources are just going to get tighter.
Arsenal specialists at the Navy have big plans for their fellow Marine soldiers.
The Office of Naval Research believes the Marine Corps’ air-ground task forces are too vulnerable to potential attacks from drones flying overhead.
So the military research department has said that it would like to equip Marine ground vehicles with laser guns to shoot down adversary drones.
Problem: The Office of Naval Research believes the Marine Corps¿ air-ground task forces are too vulnerable to potential attacks from drones flying overhead
Solution: So the military research department has said that it would like to equip Marine ground vehicles with laser guns to shoot down adversary drones
‘Shortfalls of the Marine Corps' current low-altitude air-defense program of record have been identified with the advent of new threats, specifically Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs),’ the Navy press release states.
As of now, the laser gun initiative is simply a research effort, according to the Office of Naval Research.
The department said it plans to award grants and contracts worth up to $400,000 for the Marine-truck lasers to be manufactured and outfitted.
The Navy’s idea is to get a laser cannon weighing less than 2,500 pounds mounted onto a Marine Humvee or similar vehicle.
According to the department’s specs, the cannon needs to provide a ‘minimum optical output power’ of 25 kilowatts, with an eye toward scaling up to 50 kilowatts, for a two-minute full-power blast.
Hardware that can adjust for all ‘environmental conditions’ Marines operate in is encouraged, though the Navy department declined to say how its researchers will accomplish such a feat.
Concept: The Navy's idea is to get a laser cannon weighing less than 2,500 pounds mounted onto a Marine Humvee or similar vehicle
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The DPV was built by Chenowth Racing Products, Inc.[1] The German Volkswagen Kübelwagen was the first military Light Utility Vehicle based on the Volkswagen Beetle which uses rear-wheel rather than four-wheel drive for mobility. Volkswagen components were also the basis for the post war dune buggy, and its layout is used in the DPV with rear-mounted air-cooled 200 hp (150 kW) Volkswagen engine. This makes the lightweight vehicle capable of accelerating from 0 to 30 mph (0–50 km/h) in only four seconds and able to travel at speeds of up to 80 mph (130 km/h).[2] With its standard 21 gallon (79.5 litre) fuel tank, the DPV has a range of about 210 miles (338 km). An optional fuel bladder can extend the range to over 1,000 miles (1,610 km). Payload capacity is 1500 lb (680 kg).
The DPV is a variant of the Fast Attack Vehicle, which was developed during the 1980s as part of the United States Army's High Technology Light Division (9th Infantry Division). The HTLD was given carte blanche to develop doctrine, decide force structure, and design equipment by then Army Chief of Staff Edward C. Meyer. One of the pieces of equipment created was the Fast Attack Vehicle. Chenowth delivered 120 FAVs to the Army in 1982. HTTB (High Technology Test Bed) in the units in the 9th Infantry were first to deploy these vehicles[citation needed]. Along with light off-road motorcycles, the FAV was intended to provide a highly mobile component to the mostly foot infantry unit.
Eventually, the FAVs were replaced by Humvees in general military use, which did not provide nearly the speed nor extreme off-road capabilities of the FAVs. FAVs were transferred to special forces use where it has been largely replaced by the Light Strike Vehicle.
Armament
The original tests used commercial dune buggies modified to carry weapons such as TOW missiles and recoilless rifles. The recoilless rifles still had enough recoil to flip the lightweight dune buggies and were abandoned. The TOW missiles had much greater success, but they violated existing Army TOW doctrine. The Army had determined that a TOW needed a 3 man team to operate it. The DPVs could only carry a two man crew and they seemed perfectly capable of operating the TOW, but this would have meant revising Army doctrine and possibly changing TOW deployment throughout the Army. Fort Benning decided to offer a "superior" DPV design that allowed a third crewman. This design was rejected by the HTLD team and was never produced.
Fast Attack Vehicles and Special Operations Vehicles
Special Operations is, by its very nature, outside of standard millitary protocols and therefore often requires equipment that differs from standard issue. This is true for weapons and no less true for vehicles. The photos on this page are a sample of various types of such vehicles, some completely unique purpose built for Spec Ops and others based on standard vehicles but modified for Spec Ops requirements.
In the late 1980s, Air Force special tactics units needed an agile rescue and casualty evacuation vehicle to replace the jeeps then in use. Raceco, an off-road racing vehicle manufacturer, built the prototype in 1991. The RATT can carry up to six ambulatory patients on litters and two medical personnel (usually PJs). It is equipped with two 24-volt batteries to provide power for medical equipment and floodlights at each patient station. Between 1992-1994, Raceco built 14 RATTs.
M32 Multi-Shot Grenade Launcher (MGL)
The M32 MGL is a hand-held 6-shot grenade launcher in use with SOCOM and the US Marine Corps. Ideal for special operations forces, the M32 MGL can lay down a high volume of fire - all 6 rounds can be fired in 3 seconds.
The M32 MGL can fire all of the low-velocity 40mm grenades in use with the US military, including:
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M406 High-Explosive round (H-E)
for use against point and area targets - kill zone of 5 meters and a casualty-zone of 15.
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M433 High-Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP)
able to engage lightly-armored, point and area targets
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M576 Buckshot
firing 20 pellets of buckshot
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M670 Smoke Canopy
designed to create a smoke screen at the point fo impace
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M585 White Star Cluster
flare grenade for signalling or illumination
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M651 Tactical CS Grenade
a tear gas grenade used in riot control
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XM1060 40mm Thermobaric Grenade
fuel-air explosive weapon which is devestating when fired into structures
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HUNTIR
High-altitude Unit Navigated Tactical ImagingRound, a round with a parachute and a IR CMOS Camera that beams back up to 7 minutes of video to a receiver on the ground.
M32 Features
The M32 has the following design features
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stainless steel barrel with progressive rifling
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4-rail Picatinny rail system around barrel
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collapsable modular buttstock
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reflex sight
M32 Specifications
weight :
3 lbs (unloaded)
length :
28 inches (stock collapsed)
32 inches (stock extended)
barrel length :
12 inches
rate of fire :
6 rounds in 3 seconds
muzzle velocity :
250 feet per second
effective range :
375 meters
caliber :
40x46mm (low velocity)
M32 - Images and Further Info
A US Marine takes aim with a M32 grenade launcher. The launcher features a quad Picatinny rail system that can accept all standard accessories such as grips and illumination devices.
US DoD photo by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva, 1st Marine Division
Photo showing a grenade being loaded into the M32's 6-round chamber. A mix of grenades can be loaded. Once loaded, a specific round can be selected for firing without the need to break open the chamber.
US DoD photo by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva, 1st Marine Division
A US Marine checks the fall of a shot from his M32 MGL. Note the reflex sight mounted on the weapon. The sight compensates for the natural drift of the grenades fired from the M32 and can be used at night.
Special Operations Motorcycles
The use of motorcycles in the military goes back to before World War 2. Motorcycles have been used for administration / communication tasks such as the transfer of orders across the battlefield, for scouting / screening operations for larger vehicle formations, as a reconnaissance platform and as transport for special operations units.
Even though, in some cases, the 2-wheeled motorcycle has been usurped by the 4x4 quad-bikes, or all-terrain vehicles (ATV), the are still employed by U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF).
Common features of U.S. SOF motorbikes include infrared headlights and brackets for holding the rider's personal weapon. Many are modified in order to decrease the motorcycle's signature such as being painted in infrared camoflague coatings or fitted with run-quiet mufflers.
This article features images and info on the various motorcycle employed by U.S. special operations forces...
Kawasaki KLR 250-D8
A pair of AFSOC Combat Controllers (CCTs) pictured riding Kawasaki KLR250-D8 motorcycles. CCT motorcycles can be airdropped from aircraft on special pallets under parachutes. The 75th Ranger Regimentalso use KLR-250s for administration and reconnaissance, along with newer, smaller Suzuki DS80 mini bikes.
sourced from public domain | US Air Force Photo by 1st Lt. Gabe Johnson
Kawasaki M1030
U.S. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit pictured before loading their Kawasaki M1030 motorcycles aboard a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter, April 2005. The M1030 is a variant of the Kawasaki KLR 650 motorcycle. A more recent model, the M1030M1, can run on diesel, kerosene, JP4, JP5 and JP8 fuel.
sourced from public domain | U.S. Marine Corps photo
Christini AWD
A relatively new adition to the SOF inventory, the Christini AWD is reportedly in use by U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. Army Special Forces and other Special Operations units in Afghanistan. The Christini AWD is based on the Honda CRF450 and features a liquid cooled 450cc four-stroke diesel engine.
more info : Christini AWD (www.christini.com)
sourced from public domain | U.S. Army photograph by Sgt. Todd Robinson
Mini Bikes
An AFSOC Special Tactics Combat Rescue Officer picture on a Kawasaki KLX110 0 mini bike at an airfield during a training exercise, 2012. AFSOC Combat Controllers use minibikes during airfield survey operations. They are smaller and lighter than the full scale Kawasaki / Christini motorcycles which also used by special tactics and are easier to deploy via parachute. Mini bikes are small and light enough to be attached to the sides of MH-6 helicopters and can be stowed on the rear of a GMV or similar vehicle. Aside from Air Force Special Tactics Teams, the Army's 75th Rangers also operate mini bikes, in the form of the Suzuki DS8.
Stealthy electric bikes will let fighters sneak up on the enemy
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Silent Hawk is a hybrid engine bike for use in reconnaissance missions
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For normal operations, the bike would use diesel, gasoline or jet fuel
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Close to enemy lines, the bike would run almost silently on electricity
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Logos Technologies says it Silent Hawk could travel over difficult terrain on its hybrid engine over a sustained period at 55 miles per hour (88km/h)
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Testing the first operational prototype is expected in 18 months when more specifications will be revealed
An elite group of special forces silently race across enemy lines on stealth motorcycles that fighters would never suspect were coming.
That's the scenario the US military is hoping for with its development of the 'Silent Hawk' – a hybrid engine dirt bike for use in reconnaissance missions.
The idea is that for normal operations, the bike would use diesel, gasoline or jet fuel. But when it gets closer to the enemy, it would run almost silently on electricity.
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Silent Hawk is a hybrid engine bike for use in reconnaissance missions. The idea is that for normal operations, the bike would use diesel, gasoline or jet fuel. But when it gets closer to the enemy, it would run almost silently on electricity
According to its makers, Virginia-based Logos Technologies, the bike's louder mode would be slightly louder than the average vacuum cleaner, reaching up to 75 decibels.
The company also says it Silent Hawk could travel over difficult terrain on its hybrid engine over a sustained period at 55 miles per hour (88km/h).
The combustion engine will also be removable, which means Silent Hawk can become all-electric, and also shed weight or take out problem parts.
On its own, the bike's battery can power it for up to 50 miles (80km). However, the concept is still under development and further specifications have yet to be announced.
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Silent Hawk is based on Alta Motors' electric racing bike, the RedShift MX (pictured). It uses Alta's chassis, while the hybrid engine is being developed by Logos
SILENT ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT COULD BE ROLLED OUT IN 20 YEARS
The prototype two-seater electric aircraft by Airbus made its maiden flight in March last year
Spectators at air shows are usually impressed by the boom of fighter jets flying overhead.
But aeroplane fans at the Berlin Air Show were also wowed by the eerily quiet flight of Airbus Group's fully-electric aircraft last year.
The prototype two-seater made its maiden flight in March but only took to the skies in front of the public in May. It was designed from scratch, from its electrical propulsion and energy management system to its safety features.
Airbus hopes that the prototype is one step towards the aerospace industry using regional jets powered by hybrid electric engines, which would slash its carbon dioxide emissions.
The development of a regional plane, seating between 70 and 90 people that can take off and land using electric power, could take between 15 and 20 years, Airbus Group Chief Technology Officer Jean Botti told reporters in Munich.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) began the motorcycle project last year, and has now granted its makers an award to develop it further.
Logos says it now plan 'to proceed with an aggressive Phase II program plan, with the goal of developing and testing the first operational prototype in only 18 months.'
Silent Hawk is based on Alta Motors' electric racing bike, the RedShift MX. It uses Alta's chassis, while the hybrid engine is being developed by Logos.
The U.S. Special Operations Command previously tried to use an all-electric Zero MMX bike for the same purpose, but the battery only lasted two hours.
It's not just commandos will soon be receiving steal motorbikes. In August, it was announced that police forces could use the bikes to approach criminals undetected.
The bike, designed by Zero Motorcycles in northern California, has a top speed of up to 98 mph (158 km/h), allowing police to chase criminals down if the stealth approach fails.
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It's not just commandos will soon be receiving steal motorbikes. In August, it was announced that police forces could use electric bikes (concept pictured) to approach criminals undetected.
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The jeep that can down a drone: US Navy reveals anti-UAV weapon that can fire lasers from a moving vehicle
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Designed for use on light tactical vehicles such as the Humvee
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Initial trials with low power lasers have already taken place
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The 30kW system is expected to be ready for field testing in 2016
Enemy drones have become a major threat on the battlefield, and the UU Navy hopes a roof mounted laser could be the answer.
Its Ground-Based Air Defense Directed Energy On-the-Move program, commonly referred to as GBAD, allowing controllers to simply drive the weapon to a target.
Once drones are spotted, it can them shoot them out of the sky with a high powered laser.
Scroll down for video
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The system will be able to spot and track drones, then shoot them out of the sky using a 30kw laser.
'We're confident we can bring together all of these pieces in a package that's small enough to be carried on light tactical vehicles and powerful enough to counter these threats,' said Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea, vice chief of naval research and commanding general, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
The GBAD system is being designed for use on light tactical vehicles such as the Humvee and Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
The navy hopes the system will provide an affordable alternative to traditional firepower to keep enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from tracking and targeting Marines on the ground.
'We can expect that our adversaries will increasingly use UAVs and our expeditionary forces must deal with that rising threat,' said Col. William Zamagni, acting head of ONR's Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism Department.
Some of the system's components already have been used in tests to detect and track UAVs of all sizes. Later in the year, researchers will test the entire system against targets using a 10kW laser as a stepping stone to a 30kW laser.
'GBAD gives the Marine Corps a capability to counter the UAV threat efficiently, sustainably and organically with austere expeditionary forces.
'GBAD employed in a counter UAV role is just the beginning of its use and opens myriad other possibilities for future expeditionary forces.'
Some of the system's components already have been used in tests to detect and track UAVs of all sizes.
Later in the year, researchers will test the entire system against targets using a 10kW laser as a stepping stone to a 30kW laser.
The 30kW system is expected to be ready for field testing in 2016, when the program will begin more complex trials to ensure a seamless process from detection and tracking to firing, all from mobile tactical vehicles.
Spotter vehicles and a control car will allow the system to operate anywhere.
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Military security experts have successfully managed to stop a truck in its tracks by destroying its engine with a laser.
The 30-kilowatt fibre laser called Athena burnt through the manifold in seconds, despite being fired by a team from Lockheed Martin positioned more than a mile away.
The security firm said the test signifies the next step to fitting lightweight laser weapons on military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks.
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The laser, known as Athena, was built by Maryland-based security firm Lockheed Martin. During the test, the 30-kilowattfibre laser burnt through the truck’s engine (pictured) and disabled it from more a mile away
The demonstration was the first field testing of Lockheed’s integrated 30-kilowatt, single-mode fibre laser weapon system prototype.
Fiber-optic lasers are revolutionising directed energy systems,’ said Keoki Jackson, Lockheed Martin chief technology officer.
‘We are investing in every component of the system - from the optics and beam control to the laser itself - to drive size, weight and power efficiencies.
ADAM LASER DISABLES BOATS
Athena is based on the firm’s Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) laser weapon system.
In tests off the California coast in May, Adam was used to successfully disable two boats at a range of approximately one mile (1.6km).
The high-energy laser burnt through multiple compartments of the rubber hull of the military-grade small boats in less than 30 seconds.
Lockheed Martin previously demonstrated the system’s capabilities on airborne targets in flight, including small-calibre rocket targets and an unmanned aerial system target.
The system can precisely track moving targets at a range of more than 3.1 miles (5km).
‘This test represents the next step to providing lightweight and rugged laser weapon systems for military aircraft, helicopters, ships and trucks.’
By using a technique known as spectral beam combining, the system blends multiple laser modules to create a single, powerful, high-quality beam.
This is said to provide greater ‘efficiency and lethality’ than multiple individual 10-kilowatt lasers used in other systems.
Athena is based on the firm’s Area Defense Anti-Munitions (Adam) laser weapon system.
In tests off the California coast in May, Adam was used to successfully disable two boats at a range of approximately one mile (1.6km).
Lockheed Martin said at the time that it developed the ground-based system ‘to demonstrate a practical, affordable defence against short-range threats.’
During the marine the high-energy laser burnt through multiple compartments of the rubber hull of the military-grade small boats in less than 30 seconds.
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Athena is based on the firm’s Area Defense Anti-Munitions (Adam) laser weapon system. In tests off the California coast in May, Adam was used to successfully disable two boats (one shown) at a range of one mile (1.6km). Lockheed Martin has previously demonstrated the system’s capabilities on airborne targets in flight
And Lockheed Martin has previously demonstrated the system’s capabilities on airborne targets in flight, including small-calibre rockets and an unmanned aerial system.
It can precisely track moving targets at a range of more than 3.1 miles (5km).
‘Our Adam system tests have shown that high-energy lasers are ready to begin addressing critical defense needs,’ added Tory Bruno, president of Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.
These aren’t the first laser systems to track and destroy targets but Lockheed Martin said its tests are significant because the lasers are smaller, use less power and are more efficient.
‘The high-energy laser serves as the heart of a laser weapon system,’ said Dr. Johnson.
‘This 30-kilowatt milestone shows our commitment to producing the high beam quality and high power needed to address a variety of military ‘speed-of-light’ defensive operations.’
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The Adam laser prototype can precisely track moving targets at a range of more than 3.1 miles (5km). Last year's marine tests are shown. These aren’t the first laser systems to track and destroy targets, but Lockheed Martin said its test are significant because the lasers are smaller, use less power and are more efficient
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DPV - Specifications
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Length :
4.08m 161 inches
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Width (outside of wheel to wheel)
2.11m - 83 inches
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Height
2.01m - 79 inches
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Ground clearance
.41m - 16 inches
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Wheel base
2.84m - 112 inches
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Curb weight
960kg - 2110 pounds
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Combat payload
700kg - 1540 pounds
Weight can be reduced by using titanium or aluminum frames and the body made of carbon fiber composite. Perhaps reducing the weight by 200 kg.
Light Strike Vehicle (LSV)
Resembling props from Mad Max, Light Strike Vehicles (LSVs) are 3-man dune buggies designed to act as armed scouts and attack vehicles. They can be fitted with a smiliar array of weapons to the 110s. LSVs were taken to Iraq in 1991 but were not deployed by the SAS due to them being unsuitable for the rough terrain in Western Iraq. Due to the lack of space for fuel, ammunition and other stores, LSVs are only really suitable for short range operations.
Light Strike Vehicles are used by a number of special operations units around the world such as America's Delta Force and Navy SEALs (SEAL Desert Patrol Vehicle pictured)
photo : US DoD
Chenowth Scorpion Desert Patrol Vehicle
The ultimate SEAL Team joyride - the Scorpion DPV/FAV.
The Scorpion DPV (Desert Patrol Vehicle) is a three-man on-road/off-road vehicle used for many long-range desert operations including close-air support or combat search and rescue missions. Originally designated as the FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle) the DPV has seen service primarily with the United States Navy SEALs through Operation Desert Storm and is assumed to be in current operational use along the fronts in the Iraq War and in Afghanistan. The concept of FAVs in combat dates back to World War 2 where the British Army utilized specially-modified "JEEPS" to shadow the movements, whereabouts and activities of the German Army in the Egyptian Campaign. These systems belonged to the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) whose primary function had become reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
The Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) utilizes a modified construction frame like those found in base off-road race cars. Suspension consists of two frontal shock absorbers and four shock absorbers positioned in the rear. The suspension is controlled primarily by a position-sensitive 'trailing-arm' system. The DPV is actually a 2x4 off-road vehicle, though designed to go anywhere a 4x4 could naturally go. Power is derived from a Volkswagen 2-liter, 200 horsepower air-cooled engine that allows for speeds above 60 miles per hour and a range equal to 210 miles. Range can be augmented by was of a fuel bladder than increased its operational range some 1,000 further miles. The DPV (then as the FAV) was developed in the 1980s with a generous budget and some 120 vehicles were produced as well as militarized motorbikes for special forces use.
The vehicle can be armed with a variety of mission-specific weaponry including the Browning .50 caliber heavy machine gun, the Mark 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher and the M60 .30 caliber general purpose machine gun. Ammunition stores are mission dependent. Additionally, and personal weapons carried by the crew become part of the lethality that is the DPV. Total payload for the DPV is a reported 1,500lbs.
The DPV was first unveiled to American home audiences in the 1991 televised liberation of Kuwait City. SEAL Team members were shown on their DPVs in the Kuwaiti streets complete with the traditional Bedouin headgear in place. The DPVs were able to maneuver across the desert and through the city streets with relative ease, staying ahead of the regular army forces while keeping an eye on Iraqi armor formations, location and defensive positions.
The DPV weapon system is extremely useful as a battlefield scout and reconnaissance vehicle in the special forces role. Other mission roles include target acquisition, surveillance, peacekeeping and deep strike. In large part, the DPV/FAV has been replaced in inventory by the LSV - Light Strike Vehicle.
Specifications for the Chenowth Scorpion Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) / Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV)
Dimensions:
Overall Length: 13.39ft (4.08m)
Width: 6.92ft (2.11m)
Height: 6.59ft (2.01m)
Structure:
Accommodation: 3
Weight: 0.7 US Short Tons (680kg; 1,499lbs)
Armament Suite:
MISSION-SPECIFIC:
1 x 40mm SACO MK 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher
1 x 12.7mm M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun
1 x 7.62mm M60 General Purpose Machine Gun
2 x Anti-Tank Missile Launchers
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