China's Military Claims 'Huge Breakthrough' On Laser Weapon Technology

© National University of Defense Technology  

SCMP: Chinese military scientists claim to have achieved a ‘huge breakthrough’ on laser weapon technology 

  * High-energy laser weapons can now operate 'infinitely' thanks to a new cooling system that completely eliminates the build-up of waste heat 

  * The technology could significantly change the face of battle by extending engagement times, and increasing range and damage, researchers say 

Chinese military scientists have announced a major breakthrough in laser weapon technology, claiming they have developed a new cooling system that allows high-energy lasers to operate "infinitely" without any build-up of waste heat. 

According to scientists at the National University of Defence Technology, in Changsha, Hunan province, the new cooling system completely eliminates the harmful heat that is generated during the operation of high-energy lasers. The issue has been a major technical challenge for laser weapon development.  

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China's Military Claims 'Huge Breakthrough' On Laser Weapon Technology 

Chinese military scientists achieved 'huge breakthrough' in laser weapon tech: Report -- WION 

Chinese Military Says It’s Figured Out How to Build Laser Weapons That Can Fire Indefinitely -- Futurism  

China Claims Major Breakthrough on Laser Weapon Technology -- UMMID  

China makes weapons ‘breakthrough’ -- RT

Are Chinese Satellites Now Firing Lasers Over Hawaii?

 

Zero Hedge: Experts Believe Chinese Satellite Fired Green Lasers Over Hawaii 

Late last month, mysterious green laser beams were spotted from Hawaii's tallest peak. 

Experts initially said the burst of laser beams was emitted by a NASA spacecraft though that was proven incorrect this week -- with evidence pointing to a Chinese satellite. 

Space experts at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) initially tweeted on Jan. 30 that the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera "captured green laser lights in the cloudy sky over Maunakea, Hawai'i. The lights are thought to be from a remote-sensing altimeter satellite ICESAT-2/43613."  

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Update: Chinese Satellites now firing lasers over Hawaii in latest provocation (OffGrid Survival)  

WNU Editor: NASA is not responsible for this event .... Ominous Green Lasers Shot Over Hawaii Didn't Come From NASA Satellite After All (Science Alerts).

UK's DragonFire Consortium Has Successfully Conducted Its First Laser Weapon Trial

The DragonFire directed energy system is a 50 kilowatt laser developed in the UK. (Leonardo UK)  

Breaking Defense: UK’s DragonFire laser system takes out drone, metal targets in latest test  

Breaking Defense reviewed video of the laser disabling a quadcopter UAV, part of tests that show directed energy system could be “viable.”  

WILTSHIRE, England — DragonFire, the UK Ministry of Defence’s Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW), is one step closer to becoming an operationally “viable” solution after completing its latest round of live fire tests that included targeting a small drone and metal targets designed to approximate ship and aircraft skin. 

On Tuesday, the MoD-sponsored Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) announced it had successfully completed tests of the high energy laser (HEL) at its range facility in Porton Down, Wiltshire, on Oct. 28.  

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UK's DragonFire Consortium Has Successfully Conducted Its First Laser Weapon Trial  

Britain's military gets its first-ever LASER weapon: Star Wars-style £100m death ray shoots down drone more than two miles away in first test -- Daily Mail  

DragonFire consortium conducts first laser weapon trial successfully -- Naval News  

UK Inching Closer to Deploying First 50-Kilowatt Laser Weapon -- Defense Post  

UK: First high-power firing of Dragonfire laser weapon completed -- Naval Today  

DragonFire: UK's laser weapon can fire beams at 50kW and beyond -- Interesting Engineering

The US Army Is Getting Its Most Powerful Laser Weapon Yet

An illustration of the 300-kilowatt laser weapon system General Atomics and Boeing are developing under a contract for the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office. (Courtesy of Boeing)  

Defense News: US Army awards Boeing, General Atomics contract to develop powerful laser weapon 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has awarded a Boeing and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems team a contract to develop a 300-kilowatt solid-state laser weapon, according to an Oct. 25 Boeing announcement. 

The Distributed Gain High Energy Laser Weapon System will consist of both GA-EMS’ distributed gain laser technology and Boeing’s beam director and precision acquisition, tracking and pointing software. 

The program will culminate in a demonstration of the system for the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, according to the statement.  

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Update: The military is getting its most powerful laser weapon yet (Popular Science)  

WNU Editor: A first demonstration of the high-energy laser capability is expected in August 2022.

New Laser Weapon To Be Deployed On US Navy Destroyers

Artist's impression of Lockheed Martin’s HELIOS system. (Image courtesy of Lockheed Martin) 

FOX News/Warrior Maven: Navy to deploy destroyers with new laser attack weapon 

The Lockheed-built weapon is now operational and has been delivered to the Navy Navy destroyers will soon be armed with high-powered, precision 60kw laser weapons that can track and incinerate attacking drone targets at sea, bringing new "at-the-speed-of-light" attack technology to maritime warfare in new ways. 

Lasers have been operational for years, as the Navy’s Laser Weapons System (LAWs) was deployed on the USS Ponce several years ago. However, the service has for many years been working with industry partners to further refine, sharpen, strengthen, and power-scale newer laser-weapon applications. One of them, called High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS), will soon be arming U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class DDG 51 Flight IIA destroyers. 

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WNU Editor: Apparently this is going to change maritime warfare .... New Navy destroyer-fired laser will change maritime war (FOX News).

Why Operational Laser Weapons Are Closer To Being Deployed

Lockheed Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL), which is now aiming for a 300kW class rating, will provide an all-new countermeasure against rockets, drones, and artillery. Lockheed Martin 

Warzone/The Drive: How The Once Elusive Dream Of Laser Weapons Suddenly Became A Reality 

One of Lockheed Martin's top directed energy minds explains how breakthroughs in communications and industrial tech made laser weapons possible. After decades of toiling and dead-ends, the dream of operational laser weaponry is about to become a reality. So, what changed that made what had been bulky systems go from clumsy pipe dreams to hardened, miniaturized, and reliable weapons that will be able to be deployed even in the harshest of conditions? 

We recently had an in-depth interview with Dr. Rob Afzal, Lockheed Martin Senior Fellow, Laser and Sensor Systems, where I pressed him on everything related to laser weaponry and the emerging military applications that go along with it. In the course of answering my maelstrom of queries, Dr. Afzal eloquently conveyed how we have suddenly arrived in an era where laser weapons will become widespread across the battlefield. In this first piece in our two-part series with Lockheed's directed energy guru, I wanted to share his explanation with you, as it is fascinating in its own right. 

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WNU Editor: A good and easy to read summary on why the deployment of laser weapons will become a reality sooner rather than later.

Is The Pentagon Going To Get The Laser Weapon That They Always Wanted?

The laser weapon system is designed to be mounted on a variety of platforms General Atomics   

New Atlas: General Atomics and Boeing team up on high-energy laser weapon 

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Boeing have entered into a partnership to develop a scalable 100 kW to 250 kW-class High Energy Laser (HEL) weapon system for air and missile defenses. 

Laser weapons have been high on the wish lists of major military powers ever since the first laser was invented by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Lab, Malibu, California in 1960. With enough concentrated power to burn through steel, enough range to cover literally astronomical distances, an operating cost of a dollar a shot, and an unlimited number of shots so long as there's power available, the laser looked like the so-called ultimate weapon – if it could be made practical. 

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WNU Editor: Advancements in laser technology have truly been impressive in the past few years. What was once always said to be impossible is now very possible. I am not sure on what this General Atomics and Boeing joint venture will achieve, but they appear to be very confident that they will be successful.

U.S. Army Is One Step Closer To Having Laser Weapons

Artist’s rendition of Lockheed’s 100 high-energy laser. (Image: Lockheed-Martin) 

FOX News/Warior Maven: Army achieves new high-powered laser weapon breakthrough 

Army developers and New York University scientists may have achieved a technical breakthrough. Firing lasers from fighter jets while in combat, hitting enemy hypersonic missiles in space and incinerating enemy drones from armored combat vehicles are all missions intended for fast-emerging, now-in-development laser weapons. Lasers and many laser technologies such as rangefinders and spotters are of course already used in many applications, including deployed Navy ships. At the same time, the Pentagon and military services are moving quickly to develop newer, stronger, more-mobile laser weapons. Much of this includes “laser scaling” and “size, weight and power” improvements intended to engineer lasers able to arm fighter jets and even destroy enemy ICBMs in space. 

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Update: Army Develops New High-Powered Laser Capable of Using Small Particles' Self-Assembly to Create '3D Diamond' Lattice (Tech Times). 

WNU Editor: We are still a long way-off from having deployable laser weapons.

Update #2: Maybe we are not a long way-off .... US Army could have powerful laser weapons by 2024 (Asia Times).

U.S. Navy Shoots Down Drones Mid-Flight With A Laser (Video)

Breaking Defense: US Warship Fries Drone With Powerful New Laser

In a first, the USS Portland took down a target drone with a new solid state laser this week, the first step in the Navy’s quest to get the powerful weapon on more ships in the future.

WASHINGTON: In a first, the USS Portland took down a target drone with a new solid state laser this week, the first step in the Navy’s quest to get the powerful weapon on more ships in the future.

The shot from the San Antonio-class landing platform ship tested out what’s known as the Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator, or LWSD, which has been aboard the ship for several months. The May 16 test, announced by the Pacific Fleet today, is the first public acknowledgement of the system being put to use.

The Northrop Grumman-made LWSD is a high-energy laser weapon initially developed by the Office of Naval Research, and its operational employment marks “the first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser,” according to a Pacific Fleet release.

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More News On The U.S. Navy Shooting Down Drones Mid-Flight With A Laser

VIDEO: USS Portland Fires Laser Weapon, Downs Drone in First At-Sea Test -- USNI News
The Amphibious Warship USS Portland Has Shot Down A Drone With Its New High-Power Laser -- Warzone/The Drive
The US successfully tested a laser weapon that can destroy aircraft mid-flight -- CNN
150-Kilowatt U.S. Navy Laser Successfully Shoots Down Drone in Test -- Newsweek
Watch this US Navy ship destroy a flying drone with a laser weapon -- Business Insider
US Navy claims success with laser weapon that can destroy drones mid-flight -- Independent
Video: USS Portland’s High-Powered Laser Disables Drone in Weapon’s First At-Sea Test -- Sputnik
US Navy touts high-powered LASER WEAPON & shoots down drone in first at-sea demonstration (VIDEO) -- RT

U.S. Special Forces To Test Laser Gunship For Covert Strikes In 2022

AC-130J Ghostrider gunship US Air Force

Forbes: U.S. Special Forces Test Laser Gunship For Covert Strikes

The prospect of laser fire from above moved closer with an announcement from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) that they will test fire a high-energy laser weapon from an AC-130J aircraft in 2022. The plan was disclosed at the at the Virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference this week.

The AC-130J Ghostrider is a fearsome flying arsenal. Like its Vietnam-era gunship predecessors, it carries a radar-guided 105mm howitzer and 30mm rapid fire cannon. The modern version also has precision strike capability, dropping 250-pound GPS-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs and 34-pound laser-guided AGM-176 Griffin missiles.

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WNU Editor:  Laser weapons are the Next Big Thing. They are putting it on everything .... warships, fighter jets, Army vehicles, so why not on a gunship. The first test will be in 2022.

The U.S. Army Wants More Powerful Lasers

An artist's rendering of the Indirect Fires Protection Capability – High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) in action (Dynetics)

Task & Purpose: The Army is tripling the power of one of its vehicle-mounted laser systems

The Army is working overtime to ramp up to output of one of its next-generation vehicle-mounted laser weapon systems.

Defense contractor Dynetics is currently working to increase the power of the 100 kilowatt High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL-TVD) to roughly 300 kw, roughly the output needed to defeat an incoming cruise missile, the company announced on Friday.

Initiated in 2017, the HEL-TVD program sought to develop and mount a 100 kw laser on an existing Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck to provide a counter rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) capability, according to a recent 2018 Congressional Research Service report.

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Update: Dynetics to increase laser capability of US Army (Army Technology)

WNU Editor: Rapid developments in laser technology continues to astound me.

No One Knows Why The U.S. Navy Is Arming Its Nuclear Subs With Lasers

Popular Mechanics: The Navy Is Arming Nuclear Subs With Lasers. No One Knows Why.

Nuclear reactors can easily power laser weapons, but what’s the target?

Laser weapons can strike at the speed of light, and they’re quickly deploying to every possible fighting domain, whether on land, in the air, and at sea. But what about under the sea?

Open-source budget documents, the earliest of which date back to 2011, show the Navy’s plans to arm Virginia-class nuclear subs with high-energy laser weapons. It’s a strange idea seeing as laser weapons definitely do not work underwater. Submarines are also quiet recluses by design, rarely popping their heads above water

But despite these glaring contradictions, experts talking to Popular Mechanics say a laser sub makes more sense than you might think.

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WNU Editor: A good summary on why there will be lasers on submarines.

The U.S. Navy Wants Lasers On Its Littoral Combat Ships

An artist's conception of HELIOS installed on a US Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyer. Lockheed Martin

Warzone/The Drive: Navy Littoral Combat Ship Will Soon Be Armed With A Laser Weapon System

The USS Little Rock is poised to become the third active Navy ship to be equipped with a new laser weapon.

The U.S. Navy says the Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship USS Little Rock will get a 150-kilowatt class laser weapon system from Lockheed Martin this year. This would make Little Rock the third of the service's warships to be fitted with a high-power laser of some kind, following the installation of two different designs on the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Dewey and the San Antonio class landing platform dock amphibious ship USS Portland last year. The War Zone was first to report that both of these vessels had gotten their respective lasers.

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WNU Editor:  The US Navy is betting big on this technology.

This Is How Lasers Can Help Soldiers See Around Corners

Popular Mechanics: Soldiers Could One Day See Around Corners With the Help of Lasers

As battlefields move to cities, seeing around corners will give soldiers a huge advantage.

* Scientists are exploring ways to use lasers to "see" around corners.
* Two promising methods complement each other, one gathering general information about an environment and the other more detailed—but limited—images of objects.
* The two technologies could some day help soldiers "read" rooms, identifying adversaries without exposing themselves to enemy fire.

Here’s an unexpected way lasers might beam their way onto the battlefield: sneaking a look around corners to detect adversaries.

University researchers funded by the Pentagon can now get an idea of what’s in a room by reading the interference pattern of a laser beam. This could someday lead to devices that can peer into a room and detect everyone inside—and identify if they are armed.

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WNU Editor: One of the golden rules of combat is that if you know where the enemy is, you will usually win. This could be a game changer.

This U.S. Navy Destroyer Has A Laser Turret

HELIOS concept image. Lockheed Martin

Warzone/The Drive: Mysterious Laser Turret Appears On US Navy Destroyer USS Dewey

The system is likely the service's new "ODIN" laser dazzler that is meant to blind enemy optics on ships, boats, aircraft, and missiles.

A photo from one of our awesome commenters, James Milliken, shows the American Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Dewey (DDG-105) outfitted with a new turreted system installed on its forward close-in weapon system pedestal—an area usually left open on the majority of Flight IIA Arleigh Burke class destroyers. The image was taken in San Diego very recently. The use of Dewey for integrating new technologies isn't surprising. The ship has been used to test cutting edge capabilities, like the temporarily installed Laser Weapon System (LaWS) and the firing of Hyper-Velocity Projectiles, although what we are seeing in the image above is a far more permanent capability.

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Update: Check Out This New Laser Cannon on a U.S. Navy Destroyer (National Interest)

WNU Editor: A definite vote of confidence from the U.S. Navy on the future of lasers.

Russian Presdient Putin Brags About Russia's Laser System Program

Zero Hedge: Putin Touts Laser Systems & Futuristic Arms To Be Deployed By Military

Perhaps trying to keep up with the Pentagon's own developing 'Laser Weapon System' program, President Vladimir Putin this week touted that Russia is out front in terms of the next futuristic arms race, including "Hypersonic, laser and other state-of-the-art weapon systems".

At a meeting of military commanders at the Kremlin on Wednesday, Putin boasted that “Hypersonic, laser and other state-of-the-art weapon systems, which no other country possesses, will be put in service,” but also added that such advanced technology is “no excuse for Russia to threaten anybody”.

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WNU Editor: I have not seen or read much on what the Russian military is doing with lasers. But apparently they have been doing a lot.

The U.S. Army Wants Lasers

National Interest: The U.S. Army's Laser Weapons Future Has Arrived

The Army is preparing to incinerate enemy weapons “targets” in an upcoming in a “laser-off” firing of its emerging Stryker-armed 50-kilowatt laser weapon designed to destroy drones, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and incoming enemy missiles.

(Washington, D.C.) The Army is preparing to incinerate enemy weapons “targets” in an upcoming in a “laser-off” firing of its emerging Stryker-armed 50-kilowatt laser weapon designed to destroy drones, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and incoming enemy missiles.

The Stryker-fired laser, in development for several years, is part of the Army’s fast-developing Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) program designed to bring air-and-missile defense back to armored vehicles on the move in combat.

The program will deliver 50 kilowatt (kW)-class lasers on a platoon of four Stryker vehicles in Fiscal Year 2022, an Army report stated.

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WNU Editor:  The U.S. Army has high hopes that this will work.

WNU Editor:

The U.S. Navy Moves A High-Power Naval Laser

Seen for the first time late Friday, Oct. 18, 2019, and ready for transport in Redondo Beach is a secret payload from Northrop Grumman that is being taken to King Harbor Marina, where it will be lifted onto a barge on the way to its next destination. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Warzone/The Drive: Mysterious Object Northrop Is Barging From Redondo Beach Is A High-Power Naval Laser

The system being moved represents a big leap in ship-based directed energy capabilities and is slated to be tested aboard USS Portland.

Less than a day ago, The War Zone reported on a mysterious and very large object related to a "U.S. Navy demonstration program" that was being shipped by Northrop Grumman from the relatively small marine in Redondo Beach to San Diego. Now, as the object is set to be transported via truck to the pier, we know what it is. It is a high-energy laser system that we can say with near certainty is part of the Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) program that Northrop Grumman won the contract for in 2015.

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Update #1: The U.S. Navy Just Shipped a Giant Laser Cannon (We Have Questions) (National Interest)
Update #2: Northrop Grumman to move secret large object out of Redondo Beach’s King Harbor this weekend for U.S. Navy (Daily Breeze)

WNU Editor: That is one big laser.

Will This Laser System Be Able To Knock-Out Hypersonic Nuclear Missiles From The Sky?

What can catch a missile moving many times the speed of sound? An interceptor that's as fast as light. See how we're hurtling toward lasers that can stop hypersonic missiles: https://t.co/LqZ8YeBvOU pic.twitter.com/7RyZqy94Q0

— Raytheon (@Raytheon) May 20, 2019

Futurism: Raytheon Says Laser Weapon Will Blast Nuclear Missiles From Sky

Military technology company Raytheon is teasing plans to build a powerful laser weapon capable of shooting down hypersonic nuclear missiles.

A hypersonic missile is able to strike at several times the speed of sound. That’s too fast for conventional anti-missile technology, but on Monday Raytheon tweeted out an animated video showing a futuristic laser zapping hypersonic missiles out of the sky.

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Update: Raytheon discloses future lasers that can stop hypersonic missiles (Defense Blog)

WNU Editor: The problem has always been the same. Producing enough power on the ground so that a laser that can knock out a target from a far distance. Then you need the means to track and target your laser to do so. As long as that is not possible, such a system is more science-fiction than reality.

Russian President Putin Says New Laser Weapons Will Play A Crucial Role In The Military

RT: ‘Laser weapons’ to define Russia’s military potential in 21st century – Putin

Russian leader Vladimir Putin says that laser technology will play a crucial role in the nation’s military might as he spoke about the “first practical results” of the country’s Peresvet combat laser system.

Putin highlighted the importance of developing laser technology, including the “tactical-level combat laser complexes,” at a defense-themed cabinet meeting on Friday.

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More News On Russian President Putin Saying That New Laser Weapons Will Play A Crucial Role In The Military

Putin hails new Russian laser weapons -- AP
Putin Names New Weapon to Shape Russia’s Future Combat Potential -- Sputnik
Cheap 'shots' & attacks at light speed: Why laser weaponry is a trend for 21st century -- RT