US Laser and Rail Gun Development News

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Wall Street Journal said:

I have a son getting ready to enter the Navy this month and people often ask me: "Are you OK with him entering such a dangerous profession?" For me the answer is easy: I am honored and humbled by his eagerness to defend his country and stand up for the democratic principles of the Constitution.

But as chief of Naval Research, I am also committed to ensuring that my son and his military colleagues have the best technology available to protect themselves and their nation from hostile states, extremists or other threats. Maritime strength is essential: 80% of the world's population lives near the sea; 90% of all world trade travels by ocean. From disaster relief in Haiti, Japan and the Philippines to autonomous underwater vehicles contributing to the search for the missing Malaysian airliner, Navy and Marine Corps technologies are ready and in demand.

Advanced technologies that were once the stuff of science fiction are also in the pipeline. This summer the Navy will deploy a laser cannon at sea for the first time and plans to test an electromagnetic railgun on a ship in 2016. The laser cannon delivers an invisible beam of energy with pinpoint accuracy that can take out an incoming plane, drone or boat. The electromagnetic railgun—using electricity rather than gunpowder—will defend against incoming missiles and opposing ships, and project power far inland by launching low-cost guided projectiles hundreds of miles at hypervelocity speeds over Mach 7.

Breakthrough technologies like these give commanders the option to deter, disable or destroy threats from greater distances. In addition, there is no limit to how many rounds a laser can fire, and at just $1 per shot, laser cannons will save the Pentagon (and taxpayers) many millions once fully deployed.

We're also developing Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicles, which will enable undersea operations as never before. It won't be long before unmanned, intelligent swarming vehicles from under, on and above the sea are able to overwhelm adversaries' vessels and protect U.S. ships.

You may have seen a YouTube video of Amazon's small, experimental drone delivering a book to a customer's doorstep. Now imagine a sailor or Marine pulling out a tablet and directing a full-size, unmanned helicopter to deliver 5,000 pounds of valuable supplies—whether lifesaving medical gear, food or ammunition—autonomously. That isn't fantasy. It was done successfully during test flights this year in Quantico, Va.

Advanced technology such as this requires extensive research in fundamental science and engineering. To that end, the Department of the Navy has the largest basic-research portfolio in the military. These investments are managed by the Office of Naval Research, overseeing thousands of academic grants and partnerships with small businesses and industry.

New military technologies require new skills in the age of cyberwarfare. To stay ahead, we have developed new network-security tools that defend against cyberattacks. The tools enable naval tactical cloud technology to rapidly assimilate big data and provide predictive, disruptive capabilities. In other words, we can detect a cyberthreat in the making and strike before being struck.

Past discoveries made at the Naval Research Laboratory, and other national laboratories partnered with industry and universities, have produced technologies crucial to today's world, including radar, global-positioning systems and cellular mobile devices. Current research is leading to more discoveries. A recent breakthrough: converting seawater into carbon dioxide and hydrogen, which could be used to make jet fuel.

I never want to see U.S. sailors or Marines in a fair fight. The potency and affordability of new technologies will help ensure that American military personnel and partner nations have such an advantage that our adversaries know they can never win.

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Lockheed Martin Conducts Flight Tests Of Aircraft Laser Turret For Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Innovative Design Promises to Expand Laser Weapon Effectiveness on Fighter Aircraft
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 15, 2014 – Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the University of Notre Dame, has demonstrated the airworthiness of a new beam control turret being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and AFRL to give 360-degree coverage for high-energy laser weapons operating on military aircraft. A research aircraft equipped with the Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) turret conducted eight flights in Michigan.
“These initial flight tests validate the performance of our ABC turret design, which is an enabler for integrating high energy lasers on military aircraft,” said Doug Graham, vice president of advanced programs, Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
The ABC turret system is designed to allow high-energy lasers to engage enemy aircraft and missiles above, below and behind the aircraft. Lockheed Martin’s flow control and optical compensation technologies counteract the effects of turbulence caused by the protrusion of a turret from an aircraft’s fuselage.
All turret components met U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness requirements.
Subsequent flight tests over the next year will demonstrate the turret in increasingly complex operations.
Lockheed Martin has pioneered the development and demonstration of high-energy laser capabilities for more than 30 years and has made advances in areas such as precision pointing and control, line-of-sight stabilization and adaptive optics and high-power fiber lasers.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

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Air Force to Invest Heavily in Hypersonic Aircraft
By Yasmin Tadjdeh



The head of the Air Force Research Laboratory on Sept. 16 said the first test of a hypersonic aircraft could come within five years, and the technology could be applied to cruise missiles by the 2020s.

Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, said hypersonics is one of the most promising technologies the lab is working on. It is currently testing the Boeing X-51 WaveRider unmanned hypersonic vehicle.

Hypersonic planes, lasers and unmanned aircraft are all considered major aviation game changers, he said.

“Hypersonic is the technology of the future,” Masiello said during the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference at National Harbor, Maryland. “I can’t overemphasize the significance of the X-51.”

Following a successful and historic test of the X-51 last year, momentum has been growing, Masiello said. During the test, the vehicle reached speeds of Mach 5.1 and traveled 230 nautical miles in about six minutes.

When operational, a hypersonic aircraft will give the military the ability to strike time-sensitive targets and could be used in an anti-access/area-denial environment, Masiello said. Survivability in A2/AD situations is critical as the nation focuses on the Asia-Pacific region, which has a higher threat of such attacks, he said.

“[From] a survivability stand point, it’s about altitude, it’s about speed. It’s just plain physics in terms of a missile being able to intercept a cruise missile going at Mach 5 plus, up at 50,000 [or] 60,000 feet,” Masiello said. “In any A2/AD environment, regardless of the Asia Pacific or anywhere else … that ability to survive in a highly contested environment is a huge attribute.”

The test was the fourth of its kind, and followed two previous failures. Previously, the aircraft’s supersonic combustion ramjet engine — also known as a scramjet — failed to light during the second test. A fin fell off of the aircraft during the third test.

Masiello said past failures were opportunities to better understand the technology, and a necessary part of the test-and-evaluation process.

“Within an S&T environment, we have to protect the opportunity to fail or else you’re not going to make any real progress,” Masiello said. “In early R&D and S&T, there are going to be failures.”

The success of the fourth test proved that this type of futuristic technology is real, Masiello said.

Demonstrations of an aircraft should happen within the next five years, he said. The X-51 resembles a missile and is launched from a B-52. By the 2020s, the Air Force wants to weaponize the technology to use it as a cruise missile, he added.

In the 2030s, the technology could be mature enough to be used for tactical strikes as well as for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. At this stage, the aircraft will likely be reusable and may have a short lifecycle, he said. By the 2040s, it could be combat-ready for persistent reusable strike and ISR missions, he said.

Masiello said lasers were also part of the Air Force of the future. Directed energy weapons could one day be attached to fighter jets.

“Lasers are probably one area that have been overpromised and under-delivered forever,” Masiello said.

The Air Force wants to get a high-energy laser on a fighter-sized craft by the 2030s, he said. There are a number of challenges that the service is trying to work out, he said.

“You have air flow issues, vibration issues,” he said. “It’s really all about size, weight and power and thermal managing.”

Aircraft must be able to generate enough power to deploy the laser as well as dissipate the associated heat, he said.

Masiello also mentioned strides in autonomy and unmanned technology. He stressed that the future of unmanned aviation did not mean the end of manned aviation, but rather that the two would work hand in hand.

“This [technology] has the potential to dwarf everything,” Masiello said. “When you talk about autonomy, it’s not taking the airmen out of the weapon systems, it’s building an effective manned/human machine.”

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Troll said:

"HAHAHA The other guys will just polish there systems or mount mirrors and all that money on that laser will be wasted."

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

Okay I am ticked off. Every blog and post about the laser systems has someone bringing up the same old bull reply of
Total BULL ______!!

Mirrors only reflect a set range of light, that of the visible spectrum or the light that the Human eyes is capable seeing.
high energy lasers operate on different wavelength of the EM spectrum.
And polished hulls are even less reflective. in both cases these laser systems would burn right through.

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Equation said:

They probably referring to "...ablative armor, usually made of an array of tightly-clustered gel or foam packs. When a laser hits one of these packs, the heat from the laser instantly boils the gel or foam away, the explosive reaction almost instantly absorbing, dispersing, and redirecting most of the laser energy away from the target. This is much like modern day explosive reactive armor, but carried out on a much smaller scale.

Like reflective surfaces, ablative armor would not be effective if hit more than once in the same spot."

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3-2-1 and your laser has been defeated back in the 1930's.

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

And that would work Equation. .

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

That is also True, And so the Arms race starts Longer duration laser engagements mean bigger power supplies to cut through more ablative. More ablative means thicker hulls means more laser energy...

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