I'm just asking questions, what's wrong?
chinese laser weapon development
- Thread starter maozedong
- Start date
I think what's wrong is because many members consider it tiresome to spoonfeed information that you could potentially get from reading thousands of pages haha. I understand where you're coming from though. Sometimes it's easier and quicker for other people to just tell you straight away. That's the case for something simple like roughly how many J-10C are guessed to be in service. Things like laser weapons are less clear because they are kept secret for their entire service life.
On topic of laser weapons, some very basic info are occasionally leaked like power rating or whether it is designed for a certain purpose - anti-drone or whatever. We only understand that China has offered a pretty powerful multipurpose land based, vehicle mounted laser weapon for export options. The PLA laser weapons are pretty secretive and whether a certain type is used to blind satellites or melt through cruise missiles are all kept 100% out of public domain.
We can guess based on publicised laser research and crystal fabrication technologies. There have been decades of Chinese research and development into various types and classes of laser weapons. We only know they exist and that is all. Many crystal type and fabrication technologies are led and pioneered by Chinese research institutions. English language info on Chinese science institutions and their developments are extremely limited. Public domain papers hint at a lot of things but those are barely the tip of the iceberg. Since laser weapons and other Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) are pretty much considered the next thing with modern naval vessels moving towards huge energy outputs (Type 055 really so far the only one with crazy power generation for planned railgun upgrade) and integrated electric propulsion (most modern western vessels already are IEP), there is zero chance the major players aren't putting significant stock into realising DEWs for future.
I hope that sort of addresses your question and gives you an idea why some members are justifiably annoyed at relatively nooby questions from newcomers. This field is wide and deep. People have accumulated years sometimes decades of constant learning and observation to collect and build a good understanding of the topics. Most of it are complex and nuanced so it's also difficult to explain even seemingly simple things like laser weapons.
The ship based test that recently revealed was in testing and shot down a missile target must be very different to Silent Hunter. This land based one looks like it's only good against quadcopters at range and would have near useless range against heavier targets which would be dropping weapons from beyond engagement ranges or flying low and fast while being stealthy enough to avoid detection.
In service in PLA shows there is a need to cover insurgent or low end threats who use very small recon drones or artillery assist drones similar to the Chinese ones. Other sources say Silent Hunter power range is minimum 30KW and scaled up to 100KW. 100KW would be something else. At least the fire control and everything else is well integrated - explaining the PLA service.
The individual interviewed didn't state that Silent Hunter was inducted in the PLA, he claimed that LW-30 was in service (back in 2019). As per info released at Zhuhai LW-30 could engage not only drones but also light manned aircraft, mortar rounds, and unguided rockets, so there is more mission flexibility. It could also damage IR sensors at considerable range so it has applications against LGBs and some air to surface missiles. I agree that the unidentified naval laser is in a completely different ballpark. Based on my analysis in the PLAN Laser/Railgun thread, that particular weapon is tailored for cruise missiles but of course could engage slower targets like low flying UCAVs, surveillance drones, and quadcopters.
I did suddenly realize one thing. Has the U.S. Navy conducted solid-state/fiber laser tests against jet/rocket propelled drones? In the videos I've seen they were mostly against propeller drones like scan-eagle. I don't doubt that they can track much faster targets because COIL like THEL have been obliterating unguided rocket/artillery rounds in the early 2000s. Once the power level has been scaled up they should be able to take down cruise missiles, but by how much?
I guess more info might be released at this year's Zhuhai. I hope they don't cancel it this year because of the Delta-variant. If worst comes to worst I hope they just close it off to foreigners physically and use virtual tours for prospective customers.
Well LaWS has similar reported power rating as Silent Hunter (30KW to 100KW) but looks far more capable and being ship borne, it should have access to much more power. It should sustain lmuch onger firing durations as well. It's been tested against a cruise missile target a year or so before the Chinese one. The Chinese, let's call it the heavy duty variant, hasn't been shown but the test was. It likely looks different to Silent Hunter which has to work with a truck mobile power unit and fire control. I'd imagine everything related to air defense in PLA is already integrated and have been for a long time from HQ-7A/B to HQ-9B and LW-30. Anyway that would explain the power cap, firing duration, and laser module used for the Silent Hunter/ LW-30 platforms.
The PLAN wants DEW and/or railguns on Type 055 for sure. It wouldn't have many times more power available than other modern destroyers if it wasn't. Sure the sensors and EW on the 055 require a lot as well but they've obviously got DEW and/or railgun plans too.
So from what I can tell and this would still be very ignorant position, China has tested a ship based laser probably of the LaWS class in terms of duration and power and has been using a much more "junior" laser, LW-30 for the PLA. The LW-30 is probably mostly good just against smaller light weight and low tier threats alongwith artillery etc but isn't in the PLAN laser class or LaWS.
A new(?) laser system to be shown at Zhuhai. Designation and specs unknown.
If it is made by Poly then I'll call it the "Silenter Hunter".
P.S. Nvmd it is made by Norinco.
Screencap of the device in action at the 1:46 mark. Looks to be an anti-drone laser.
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They do need to work on the beam tracking capabilities. Friggin dot is jumping all over the place.