Combat laser installation. US laser weapons: advantages, disadvantages and prospects
The use of lasers in the military sphere has been talked about for decades, but now we are talking about the introduction of the first real weapon of this type. So why did it take so long to develop effective laser weapons? The first reason concerns the power source for such weapons, the selection of which represents a serious engineering problem.
Navy on Monday reported that new defense plans are being developed for ships currently deployed in the Persian Gulf. One of them in particular will be equipped with a laser weapon. The use of lasers in the military sphere has been talked about for decades, but now we are talking about the introduction of the first real weapon of this type. So why did it take so long to develop effective laser weapons?
The first reason concerns the power source for such weapons, the selection of which represents a serious engineering problem. The theory behind laser weapons is extremely simple: the task is to destroy a target using a concentrated beam of electromagnetic energy.
Conventional weapons work in much the same way: a gun bullet is just a more tangible way of delivering a lethal amount of energy.
This concept is so simple that people have played with the idea in different ways for thousands of years. Legend has it that during the siege of Syracuse, Archimedes was able to set fire to the sails of enemy ships using the sun's rays.
The alien beams from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds are fantastic weapons that also rely on the principle of energy beams. Just like the Death Star from Star Wars that destroyed the planet Alderaan. Defense systems experts have been talking about laser weapons since the late 1970s. However, creating effective laser weapons poses a number of serious technical challenges.
The first and most important question is the source of energy. Even in the best models, the laser uses only 20% of the electricity used to power the weapon. Aiming and focusing the laser beam requires even more energy. Because of this waste, hundreds of kilowatts of electricity are required to operate a 20-kilowatt laser that can destroy or seriously damage a small vessel. (For comparison: a typical window air conditioner consumes 1 kilowatt). That's why this new weapon is installed on a warship where there is more than enough electricity.
Even if we ever discover a miniature power source that can effectively power a laser, we will not be able to create a portable laser weapon. The thing is that a typical laser machine actually emits three beams.
The first beam is used to measure atmospheric distortion. Next, a special computer calculates how the beam needs to be changed to adapt it to current conditions. The second beam is needed to track the target. Despite what is often written in science fiction, the laser must be focused on the target for several seconds to cause serious damage. Thus, the second beam allows you to keep a moving target in focus. The third beam is an actual energy wave and is approximately a meter in diameter. The laser usually heats up quickly, and therefore the unit is equipped with a cooling system.
The second major obstacle concerns the difficulty of deploying laser weapons on the battlefield. Such weapons should not only be possible from a technical point of view, but have better qualities and a lower price than those that already exist. Therefore, the army preferred to use the first samples of laser weapons in clearly defined niches, rather than create a separate branch of the military for it.
Currently, the most effective type is the Tactical High Energy Laser, which is powerful enough to destroy small objects such as incoming mortar shells. The Navy has another problem with small targets. The fact is that hitting small and maneuverable ships with conventional weapons is not an easy task. A tactical laser, in turn, only needs to focus on an approaching ship for a few seconds to explode its fuel tanks or damage its engine. This will avoid a repeat of the suicide attack on the USS Cole in 2000.
But what does the target feel like when the laser weapon is pointed at it? It's heating up. The laser carries energy. The powerful laser heats the surface of your skin and the cells underneath extremely quickly. This is, of course, an extremely painful experience, and anyone who remains exposed to the 20 kilowatt laser beam for too long will inevitably die.
However, the military is unlikely to start using lasers against people in the foreseeable future. The fact is that they are not just bulky: they take a lot of time to kill. If you feel a laser on you, all you have to do to protect yourself is hide behind any opaque object. However, the Army is considering weapons using microwave technology to disperse crowds: when exposed to such heat, people tend to flee. In any case, bullets will remain for a long time a much more effective way to injure or kill a person than any laser.
The United States forced Russia to remember the deadly weapons created in the USSR
Over the past few years, the whole world has witnessed how the US military is experimenting with combat lasers - they have been used to destroy drones and cars. Next up are missile defense and anti-satellite weapons. In Russia, the successes of American colleagues stimulate the revival of almost lost infrastructure and the resumption of developments inherited from the USSR. More than 1 billion rubles aimed at reviving the infrastructure of what was once the largest laser test site in the USSR is probably only the visible part of the iceberg.
Directed Energy Weapon
According to the military classification, combat lasers belong to directed energy weapons - one of the weapons based on new physical principles, which people in uniform have been talking about more and more often in recent years. The corresponding section on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense notes: “The greatest successes have been achieved in improving laser weapons.” It turns out that the physical principles are new, but we are already talking about “improvement”. Why? For Russia, combat lasers are a story that was interrupted at the peak of development.
Combat Lasers: Escape to Reality
The very idea of the existence of a laser was expressed by Albert Einstein. The great scientist predicted the possibility of “inducing the radiation of atoms by an external electromagnetic field,” and soon the Russian writer Alexei Tolstoy in his novel “The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin” and many of his colleagues around the world began to “promote” this phenomenon. Such “PR” of the laser created many myths long before its birth. Even today, when it is difficult to find an area where lasers are not used, the first association that comes to mind is the beam-firing pistols from Star Wars.
But if Tolstoy anticipated events, the cinema of the late 20th century largely reflected reality, albeit in a somewhat optimistic form. Soon after World War II, scientists from the two superpowers worked very actively towards creating a working laser. The contribution of representatives of the scientific communities of the warring powers to the creation of the laser was determined by the Nobel Prize in 1964, the laureates of which were the American Charles Townes and two Soviet physicists - Nikolai Basov and Alexander Prokhorov.
One can only guess how intensely the military of the two countries rubbed their hands at that moment. The idea of shooting the enemy with beams seemed impressive, but in practice everything turned out to be more complicated...
USSR: space, ballet, laser...
In the USSR, a group led by Nobel laureate Basov proposed using a “quantum optical generator” in missile defense (BMD) and air defense (air defense), hitting enemy ballistic missiles or aircraft with a directed beam. As part of this program, experimental systems 5N76 “Terra-3” and “Omega” were created. Already the first experience showed that the main problem was a constant lack of energy - to “pump” lasers, very powerful generators were required, which simply did not exist. To destroy aerodynamic targets, factors limiting combat use were added to this list, such as the vagaries of the weather and a long time of exposure to the target to destroy it. The work was delayed, and as a result, the Terra-3 tests lasted until the collapse of the USSR.
In parallel with air defense/missile defense systems, the laser was planned to be used to disable enemy satellites. Since the late 70s, the USSR began developing the Skif space combat module, which, among other things, was supposed to carry laser weapons on board. In 1987, they decided to test a prototype of the device together with the new Energia rocket. Due to a technical problem, he was unable to enter the intended orbit, but on Earth they managed to obtain some of the useful information that was planned to be obtained. The "Skif" with a laser system was never built.
The laser did not reach space, but it was still destined to rise into airspace. In parallel with the “Skif”, within the framework of the “Falcon-Echelon” program, the development of an air-launched combat laser system was carried out, which later received the name A-60. The carrier of the laser gun was the Il-76MD military transport aircraft.
Testing of the complex began in 1984. The official position was that the aircraft was being used for “experiments with laser propagation in the atmosphere.” They “experimented” with stratospheric balloons, ballistic missiles and low-orbit satellites located at altitudes of 30-110 km.
Like the modern American military, the USSR in the 70s understood the advantages of using mobile lasers for installation on ground vehicles and ships. This is how several Soviet laser tanks appeared at once - “Stiletto”, “Sanguine” and “Compression”. These experimental models represent three generations of development of this technique. The principle of their operation is as follows: the target is detected by the radar, it is probed with a weak laser to detect glare from the optics, and as soon as glare is detected, a powerful laser pulse is sent to them, which disables the devices and/or the retina of their operator.
It is known that the Sanguin and its naval version Aquilon (to destroy the optics of coast guard systems) could hit targets at a distance of up to 10 km. Apparently, the range of the most advanced laser tank, the Compression, was no less. This machine was created at the very end of the USSR and was put into service in 1992. Outwardly, it is similar to a heavy flamethrower system and differs from the latter in that its 12 “barrels” contain a multi-channel laser, and each such barrel-channel has its own guidance system and its own laser range, which made it impossible to protect against its effects using light filters .
As a result, at the beginning of the 1990s, the USSR was a leader in the field of creating combat lasers, and in terms of the level of infrastructure development and the amount of R&D, the domestic industry in this area was significantly ahead of the American one.
Lasers in the USA of the 21st century: “the eve of efficiency”
The cost of a missile from the American Patriot MIM-104 air defense/missile defense system, depending on the modification, can reach $6 million. A laser shot costs exactly as much as it costs to produce electricity for it (about $1, according to the American military). As a result, the United States and its NATO allies found themselves using expensive weapons against light helicopters, outdated missiles or homemade drones costing several hundred dollars in numerous operations in the early 2000s. This was one of the factors that led to the revival of laser weapon development in the early 21st century.
In the 10s of the 21st century, a new boom in the development of laser weapons began: In 2013, the United States tested a 10-kilowatt laser HEL MD (High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator), which proved the ability to intercept mortar rounds and unmanned aerial vehicles; in 2014, a 30-kilowatt Laser Weapon System (LaWS) laser system from the US Navy transport ship Ponce destroyed a UAV and light boats; In 2015, Lockheed Martin announced a successful test of the 30 kilowatt ATHENA laser, which disabled a truck located more than a mile away in a few seconds.
This series of successes was well characterized by the head of Lockheed Martin laser systems development, Robert Afzal: “we are on the verge of beginning to effectively use laser weapons.”
Soon after, the company announced the creation of a 60-kilowatt laser and said the goal was to increase the power of compact lasers (which can be installed on vehicles, airplanes, helicopters and ships) to 100 kilowatts.
At the same time, in April last year, the director of the US Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency, Vice Admiral James Sirin, said that within five years the Pentagon plans to obtain a combat laser capable of destroying ballistic missiles. He clarified that the laser is planned to be installed on an aircraft, and they plan to spend $278 million on its creation in the next five years.
Russia in the role of catching up?
In Russia, according to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, laser weapons have already been adopted for service. That's all - what exactly was adopted for service is not specified. We can only rely on leaks in the media, according to which we are talking about the revival of the project to create an air-launched laser system “Falcon Echelon”. An unnamed source from the TASS agency reported that we are talking about a “new generation of laser installation.”
The USSR produced two copies of the A-60, one of which burned down in 1989 right at the airfield. Second,
the modernized version of the flying laboratory flew only in 1991, during a difficult period in the country’s history. As a result, this only remaining copy was laid up for more than 10 years, until in 2002 the Americans intensified their program for creating combat lasers. Then, apparently, Russia remembered its former leadership in this direction. In 2005, work on the Sokol-Echelon program was resumed, but it apparently did not proceed at a very high pace due to the lack of adequate funding and the bleeding of the industry in the 90s.
Only in 2011, the head of the Armament Department of the Ministry of Defense A.V. Gulyaev stated that “the air-launched laser complex has been restored.” At the same time, reports appeared about the creation of an aerial complex with a more powerful laser, apparently Yuri Borisov reported on the successes of this “new generation”.
Do Russian combat lasers have a future?
The future of laser combat equipment development will depend on the pace of infrastructure restoration and the ability to train and retain specialists, that is... on funding.
Along with the resumption of work on the A-60, money began to flow into specialized enterprises - NPO Almaz and Khimpromavtomatika. Apparently, at the stage of transition from the restoration of old products to new developments, a laser range was required. In the USSR, all work on ground-based lasers was supervised by the NPO Astrophysics (before that the Central Design Bureau Luch), part of which was the Raduga Design Bureau with the largest and most modern laser test site in the world, the equipment of which was completed with the latest technology in the late 80s. x years. Here, Soviet “laser tanks” were tested and a pilot plant was built where laser equipment for the Soviet Terra-3 laser systems was created.
After more than a quarter of a century, the landfill will have to be significantly modernized. This process began in 2014. According to the government procurement website, more than 1 billion rubles have been allocated for the modernization of the landfill and this work continues - only since the beginning of 2017, purchases for 205 million rubles have been published.
It is difficult to judge whether this is a lot or a little. Russia in the current economic and socio-political paradigm can hardly count on the successes of the USSR in the field of advanced developments. Nevertheless, the created margin of safety in the field of creating combat lasers, provided that adequate funding is allocated, will allow us to maintain parity with the United States for a long time, at least in the most sensitive areas of their application - missile defense and counter-satellite warfare.
A laser is an optical quantum generator, an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission Radiation. Engineering and military thought, since the time when A. Tolstoy wrote the science fiction novel “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid,” has been actively looking for possible ways to implement the idea of creating a laser that could cut armored vehicles, airplanes, combat missiles, etc.
In the process of research, laser weapons were divided into “burning”, “blinding”, “electro-magnetic-pulse”, “overheating” and “projection” (pictures are projected onto clouds that can demoralize an unprepared or superstitious enemy).
At one time, the United States planned to place interceptor satellites in low-Earth orbit capable of destroying Soviet ballistic intercontinental missiles on their initial flight path. This program was called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). It was SDI that gave impetus to the active development of laser weapons in the USSR.
In the Soviet Union, several experimental models of laser space guns were developed and built to destroy American interceptor satellites. At that time, they could only operate with powerful ground-based power sources; installing them on a military satellite or space platform was out of the question.
But despite this, experiments and tests continued. It was decided to carry out the first testing of the laser gun in sea conditions. The gun was installed on the auxiliary fleet tanker Dixon. In order to obtain the required energy (at least 50 megawatts), the tanker's diesel engines were reinforced with three jet engines from the Tu-154. According to some reports, several successful tests were carried out to hit targets on the shore. Then perestroika happened and the collapse of the USSR, all work stopped due to lack of funding. And the “laser ship” “Dixon” went to Ukraine during the division of the fleet. His further fate is unknown.
At the same time, work was underway to create the Skif spacecraft, which could carry a laser gun and provide it with energy. In 1987, the launch of this device, which was called “Skif-D,” was supposed to take place. It was created in record time at NPO Salyut. A prototype of a space fighter with a laser cannon was built and ready for launch; at the start there was an Energia rocket with an 80-ton Skif-D device docked on the side. But it so happened that it was at this time that the famous guardian of US interests, Gorbachev, arrived at Baikonur. Having gathered the Soviet space elite in the conference hall of Baikonur three days before the launch of Skif, he stated: “We are categorically against transferring the arms race into space and will set an example in this.” Thanks to this speech, “Skif-D” was launched into orbit only to be immediately thrown into the dense layers of the atmosphere for burning.
But in fact, the successful launch of Skif would mean a complete victory for the USSR in the struggle for near space. For example, each Polet-type fighter could destroy only one enemy aircraft, while it itself would die. “Skif” could fly in orbit for quite a long time, while hitting enemy vehicles with its cannon. Another indisputable advantage of the Skif was that its gun did not require a special range; 20-30 km of action would be enough to destroy the intended targets of vulnerable orbital satellites. But the Americans would have to puzzle over space stations firing thousands of kilometers away at small armored warheads rushing at breakneck speed. “Scythians” shot down satellites while catching up, when the speed of the pursued target in relation to the hunter can be said to be simply snail-like.
Maneuvering satellite "Polet-1"
It turns out that the Skif fleet would smash into pieces the American low-orbit constellation of military satellites with a 100% guarantee. But all this did not happen, although the remaining scientific and technical base is an excellent basis for modern developers.
The next development of the Salyut Design Bureau was to be the Skif-Stiletto apparatus. The prefix “Stiletto” appeared in the name because they were going to install on it the onboard special complex (BSK) 1K11 “Stiletto” developed at NPO Astrophysics. It was a modification of the “ten-barreled” ground-based infrared laser installation of the same name, operating at a wavelength of 1.06 nm. The ground-based “Stiletto” was intended to disable sights and sensors of optical devices. In the vacuum of space, the radius of action of the rays could be significantly increased. The “Space Stiletto” could, in principle, be successfully used as an anti-satellite weapon. As is known, failure of the optical sensors of a spacecraft is tantamount to its death. What happened to this project is unknown.
Not so long ago, in a conversation with journalists, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Makarov, said that in Russia, “as well as throughout the world, work is underway on a combat laser.” Adding: “It is too early to talk about its characteristics.” Maybe he was talking about the development of this particular project.
According to Wikipedia, the fate of the ground-based Stiletto is also very sad. According to some reports, neither of the two copies adopted for service is currently operational, although formally the Stiletto is still in service with the Russian army.
Laser complex "Stilet" at state tests
Photos of one of the Stilet complexes, 2010, Kharkov Tank Repair Plant No. 171
Some experts believe that during the parade on May 9, 2005, Russia demonstrated laser guns, and not “prototypes,” but production vehicles. Six combat vehicles with their “combat units” and “terminal devices” removed stood on both sides of Red Square. According to experts, these were the same “laser guns”, which were immediately dubbed “Putin’s hyperboloid” by wits.
Apart from this ambitious demonstration and publications about the Stiletto, there is no more detailed information about Russian laser weapons in the open press.
The electronic directory of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation “Weapons of Russia” reports: “Experts in this field, despite contradictory and unproven data due to the closed nature of this topic, assess the prospects for the creation of military laser weapons in Russia as realistic. This is due, first of all, to the rapid development of modern technologies, the expansion of the use of laser weapons for other purposes, the desire to create such weapons and the advantages that they have in comparison with traditional means of destruction. According to some estimates, the real appearance of military laser weapons is possible in the period 2015-2020.”
A reasonable question arises: what is the situation on this issue with our potential overseas enemy, the United States?
For example, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, gives the following answer to this question:
The danger for us is the powerful chemical lasers placed on Boeing 747 aircraft and space platforms. By the way, these are Soviet-developed lasers, transferred to the Americans in the early 90s by order of Boris Yeltsin!
Indeed, not so long ago an official statement from the Pentagon appeared in the American press that tests of a combat laser system for combating ballistic missiles, intended for placement on aircraft carriers, were successful. It also became known that the US Missile Defense Agency received funding from Congress for the 2011 test program in the amount of one billion dollars.
According to the plans of the American military, aircraft equipped with laser systems will operate mainly against medium-range missiles, although it is more likely that only against operational-tactical missiles. The destructive effect of this laser, even under ideal conditions, is limited to 320-350 km. It turns out that in order to shoot down a ballistic missile at the acceleration stage, an aircraft with a laser must be within a radius of 100-200 km. from the location of the missile launchers. But the positioning areas of intercontinental ballistic missiles are located, as a rule, deep in the country’s territory, and if an aircraft accidentally ends up there, there is no doubt that it will be destroyed. Therefore, the adoption of an air-launched laser by the United States will only allow it to thwart threats from countries that have mastered missile technology but do not have full-fledged air defense.
Of course, over time, the Pentagon may launch lasers into space. And Russia must be ready to retaliate.
The term “laser,” which is familiar to us, is an abbreviation for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, which translated means “amplification of light through stimulated emission.”
Lasers were first discussed seriously in the second half of the 20th century. The first working laser device was introduced by American physicist Theodore Maiman in 1960, and today lasers are used in a wide variety of fields. Quite a long time ago they found application in military equipment, although until recently we were talking mainly about non-lethal weapons capable of temporarily blinding the enemy or disabling his optics. Full-fledged combat laser systems capable of destroying equipment are still at the development stage, and it is difficult to say exactly when they will become operational.
The main problems are related to the high cost and high energy consumption of laser systems, as well as their ability to cause real damage to highly protected equipment. However, every year the leading countries of the world are increasingly developing combat lasers, gradually increasing the power of their prototypes. The development of laser weapons would most correctly be called an investment in the future, when new technologies will make it possible to seriously talk about the feasibility of such systems.
winged laser
One of the most sensational projects of laser combat systems was the experimental Boeing YAL-1. A modified Boeing 747-400F airliner served as a platform for placing the combat laser.
The Americans have always been looking for ways to protect their territory from enemy missiles, and the YAL-1 project was created precisely for this purpose. It is based on a 1 MW chemical oxygen laser. The main advantage of the YAL-1 over other missile defense systems is that the laser system is theoretically capable of destroying missiles at the initial stage of flight. The American military has repeatedly announced successful tests of a laser system. However, the real effectiveness of such a complex seems rather dubious, and the program, which cost $5 billion, was discontinued in 2011. However, the developments obtained in it have found application in other projects of combat lasers.
Shield of Moses and Blade of Uncle Sam
Israel and the United States are world leaders in the development of combat laser systems. In the case of Israel, the creation of such systems is due to the need to counter frequent rocket attacks on the country’s territory. In fact, while a laser will not be able to confidently hit targets like a ballistic missile for a long time, it is quite capable of fighting short-range missiles now.
Palestinian unguided Qassam missiles are a constant source of headaches for the Israelis, and the US-Israeli Nautilus laser missile defense system was supposed to be an additional security guarantee. The main role in the development of the laser itself was played by specialists from the American company Northrop Grumman. And although the Israelis invested more than $400 million in Nautilus, they withdrew from the project in 2001. Officially, the results of the missile defense tests were positive, but the Israeli military leadership was skeptical about them, and as a result, the Americans remained the only participants in the project. Development of the complex continued, but it never reached mass production. But the experience gained during the Nautilus testing process was used to develop the Skyguard laser complex.
The Skyguard and Nautilus missile defense systems are built around a high-energy tactical laser - THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser). According to the developers, THEL is capable of effectively hitting missiles, cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and drones. At the same time, THEL can become not only an effective, but also a very economical missile defense system: one shot will cost only about 3 thousand dollars, much cheaper than launching a modern anti-missile missile. On the other hand, it will be possible to talk about the real efficiency of such systems only after they are put into service.
THEL is a chemical laser with a power of about 1 MW. After the target is detected by the radar, the computer orients the laser system and fires a shot. In a split second, the laser beam causes enemy missiles and shells to detonate. Critics of the project predict that such a result can only be achieved in ideal weather conditions. Perhaps this is why the Israelis, who had previously abandoned the Nautilus project, were not interested in the Skyguard complex. But the US military calls the laser system a revolution in the field of weapons. According to the developers, mass production of the complex may begin very soon.
Laser in the sea
The US Navy is showing great interest in laser missile defense systems. According to the plan, laser systems will be able to complement the usual means of protecting warships, taking on the role of modern high-speed anti-aircraft guns, such as the Mark 15. The development of such systems is fraught with a number of difficulties. Small drops of water in humid sea air noticeably weaken the energy of the laser beam, but the developers promise to solve this problem by increasing the laser power.
One of the latest developments in this area is MLD (Maritime Laser Demonstrator). The MLD laser system is just a demonstrator, but in the future its concept may form the basis of full-fledged combat systems. The complex was developed by Northrop Grumman. Initially, the installation’s power was small and amounted to 15 kW, but during testing it also managed to destroy a surface target - a rubber boat. Of course, in the future, Northrop Grumman specialists intend to increase the laser power.
At the Farnborough 2010 air show, the American company Raytheon presented to the public its own concept of a combat laser, LaWS (Laser Weapon System). This laser system is combined into a single complex with the Mark 15 naval anti-aircraft gun and in tests managed to hit a drone at a distance of about 3 km. The power of the LaWS laser machine is 50 kW, which is enough to burn through a 40 mm steel plate.
In 2011, Boeing and BAE Systems began developing the TLS (Tactical Laser System) complex, which also combines a laser system with a rapid-fire 25-mm artillery gun. It is believed that this system will be able to effectively hit cruise missiles, airplanes, helicopters and small surface targets at a range of up to 3 km. The rate of fire of the Tactical Laser System should be about 180 pulses per minute.
Mobile laser complex
Another Boeing development - HEL-MD (High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator) - should be installed on a mobile platform - an eight-wheeled truck. During tests that took place in 2013, the HEL-MD complex successfully hit training targets. Potential targets for such a laser system could be not only drones, but also artillery shells. Soon the power of HEL-MD will be increased to 50 kW, and in the foreseeable future it will be 100 kW.
Another example of a mobile laser was recently presented by the German company Rheinmetall. The HEL (High-Energy Laser) laser complex was installed on a Boxer armored personnel carrier. The complex is capable of detecting, tracking and destroying targets - both in the air and on the ground. Enough power to destroy drones and short-range missiles.
Prospects
A well-known expert in the field of advanced weapons, Andrei Shalygin, says: “Laser weapons are literally line-of-sight weapons. The target must be detected in a straight line, the laser aimed at it and steadily tracked in order to transfer enough energy to cause damage. Accordingly, over-the-horizon destruction is impossible, and sustained, guaranteed defeat at long distances is also impossible. For longer distances the installation should be raised as high as possible. Hitting maneuvering targets is difficult, hitting shielded targets is difficult... In numbers, all this looks too banal to even talk about it seriously, compared to even primitive operating air defense systems.
In addition, there are two factors that further complicate the situation. The power supply of such a weapon in today's conditions should be enormous. This makes the entire system either extremely cumbersome, or extremely expensive, or has a lot of other disadvantages, such as a short total time in combat readiness, a long time to bring into combat readiness, the huge cost of a shot, and so on. The second significant factor limiting the effect of laser weapons is the optical inhomogeneity of the medium. In a primitive understanding, any ordinary bad weather with precipitation makes the use of such weapons below the cloud level completely useless, and protection against them in the lower layers of the atmosphere seems very simple.
Therefore, there is no need to say yet that samples of any know-how in laser weapons in the foreseeable future will be able to become something more than not the best melee weapons for naval groups in good weather and for air duels taking place above the cloud level. As a rule, exotic weapons systems are one of the most effective ways for lobbyists to make money in a “relatively honest” way. Therefore, in order to solve tactical problems with combat units within the framework of the art of war, you can easily find a dozen or two much more effective, cheaper and simpler solutions to the assigned tasks.
The airborne systems being developed by the Americans can find very limited use for local protection against air attacks above the cloud level. However, the cost of such solutions significantly exceeds existing systems without any prospect of reducing it, and the combat capabilities are significantly lower.
With the discovery of materials for the construction of superconducting systems operating at temperatures close to the environment, as well as in the case of the creation of compact mobile high-energy power sources, laser systems will be produced in Russia. They can be useful for short-range air defense purposes in the fleet and used on surface ships, for starters - as part of systems based on platforms such as the Palma ZK or AK-130-176.
In the ground forces, such systems in fully combat-ready form have been known to the whole world since the time when Chubais tried to openly sell them abroad. They were even exhibited for this purpose at MAKS-2003. For example, MLTK-50 is a conversion development in the interests of Gazprom, which was carried out by the Trinity Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Research (TRINITI) and NIIEFA named after Efremov. Its appearance on the market, in fact, led to the fact that the whole world suddenly moved forward in the design of similar systems. At the same time, at present, the energy systems allow us to have not a dual, but an ordinary single automobile module.
The US Navy began to use ships equipped with laser weapons. One of them demonstrated its capabilities in the Persian Gulf - it shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle using a laser gun. We are talking about a full-fledged weapon, and not an experimental model, clarifies CNN, whose correspondent was on board the ship.
The Laser Weapons System was installed aboard the amphibious transport ship USS Ponce. According to his commander Christopher Wells, it is universal, unlike traditional weapons used against air, surface or ground targets.
The laser beam emitted by the installation is invisible to an outside observer, is absolutely silent and hits the target almost instantly, as it moves at the speed of light. “Collateral damage is kept to a minimum. I don’t have to worry about ammunition that will miss the target and hit something I don’t want to hit,” the ship’s commander explained.
The economic side of the issue particularly pleases the captain. The cost of the laser installation is about $40 million. Electricity is generated by a standard generator. Moreover, the cost of one shot is only “one dollar.” There's no need for expensive rockets costing millions, Wells says. The crew that services the laser installation consists of three people.
The fact that during 2017 the United States will test a new laser gun with a power of 150 kW was announced at the beginning of the year by Rear Admiral Ronald Boxall. At the same time, the press announced the approximate characteristics of the new weapon: the system will be able to operate without recharging for up to three minutes, fire up to a hundred shots and fight against a swarm of drones for up to 20 minutes.
In parallel with the tests in the fleet, a program to equip the American Air Force with laser weapons is being developed. Thus, in June, the United States tested a combat laser installed on an AH-64 Apache helicopter. The helicopter was able to shoot down a stationary drone from a distance of 1.4 kilometers. In addition, the Air Force command promises to test laser weapons on board AC-130 aircraft.
The range of possible targets for American laser guns is well defined. According to CNN, the test in the Persian Gulf targeted "an unmanned aerial vehicle increasingly used by Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and other adversaries."
British combat lasers will soon appear alongside the Americans - London launched its laser program back in 2014.
According to the head of the US Strategic Command John Hyten, Russia is “exploring significant capabilities, including lasers for use in space” against US satellites. Indeed, back in the 1980s, a laser locator (not a combat laser) was used to probe the American shuttle Challenger in flight. However, with the collapse of the USSR, many laser developments ceased.
Currently, Russia is probably still developing a laser system mounted on the Il-76 (A-60) aircraft. In addition, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Victor Bondarev spoke about the possibility of arming the MiG-35 light fighter with laser weapons.
Military expert Alexey Leonkov believes that the capabilities of American lasers are still far from being called military weapons.
— What the Americans have done now in the Persian Gulf can be called a demonstration of the capabilities of laser weapons to shoot down plastic unmanned aerial vehicles. Moreover, at a short distance and in clear weather. I would not call it a military weapon, since it is still very far from the parameters of, for example, small arms or anti-aircraft missile weapons. There are many factors that limit its capabilities.
The Americans most likely had a 150 kW laser, which needed a 450 kW power plant. It is quite bulky because it not only generates energy for shots, but also stores it. Therefore, it can only be in the ship version. The rate of fire of such lasers is limited, and so is their range. It is highly dependent on weather conditions. And against metal, especially armored targets, effectiveness has not yet been shown.
Now in the Persian Gulf the Americans have shot down one drone. What if there are ten of them? What if there are hundreds of drones? What if these are cruise missiles that maneuver? Well, one or two more will be shot down, but the rest will hit the target? It turns out that the effectiveness of this laser is lower than even the Vulcan-Phalanx artillery-anti-aircraft complex, which they have standard on many ships.
Therefore, I would not call it a full-fledged weapon. But for a beautiful demonstration in front of Arab sheikhs, such lasers are suitable. Maybe they will like it and pay millions for it to have such a toy in their arsenal.
"SP": -CNN claims that the cost of one shot of a laser gun is negligible - only one dollar...
- They love these things. But if you calculate how much one installation and all the equipment costs. They simply don't take this into account. These are hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars. For example, they tested this installation in an aviation version. Its cost was about $5 billion, but it never went into production.
“SP”: — At what stage are Russian developments of laser weapons?
— Our developments were carried out back in the 20th century. In the USSR, four real samples were developed as part of the Compression project. This is a ground-based Stiletto based on a tracked multiple rocket launcher known as the TOS-1 Buratino. The naval version was installed on the experimental ship "Diskont", from which they fired at surface targets. The air version is a fairly well-known project for the A-60 aircraft. There was also a spacecraft.
All these installations were tested and received the necessary technical and experimental data, which formed the basis for the current development of laser weapons. Such developments are carried out by enterprises of our defense industry, but their details, of course, are classified. When a truly combat laser is ready, the Ministry of Defense will certainly demonstrate it.
“SP”: — What capabilities of lasers are we talking about now?
— The current state of laser weapons is such that they are capable of “blinding” optics, optical-electronic guidance devices, and missile homing heads. But it’s too early to talk about the physical destruction of serious objects. The rate of fire, the resource intensity of such weapons, as well as weather conditions are important here. It will rain and this laser will be completely unusable. That is, laser weapons can be used in combination with traditional types of weapons.
SP spoke about some details regarding the creation and use of laser weapons by Russia GChief Editor of the Military Russia portalDmitry Kornev.
— The USSR was actually the birthplace of laser systems. At the end of the 1960s and in the first half of the 1970s, the volume of work on this topic was enormous. The work was carried out in strategic interests. As a result, not a single truly combat system was created. When the academician was later asked about this Nikolai Basov (Nobel laureate in laser science - author.), he replied that an important result had been obtained - scientists were convinced that the creation of such systems is impossible, which means that our country has nothing to fear from the fact that someone will create such systems.
“SP”: — Nevertheless, work in this direction is underway?
- Yes, that's true. There are several programs. But no specific data about them has been made public. Neither bad nor good. This means that there are no truly combat-ready systems yet. The task is very difficult. Physical principles impose restrictions on the possibility of using laser weapons. Huge energy costs are required. Accordingly, either ground-based or ship-based systems are possible. And still their capabilities will be limited.
Even the Americans have now shot down a drone specially prepared for this. But, excuse me, “cardboard” models in the USSR were also shot down with lasers in the 1970s. There are photographs on the Internet of such an installation by NPO Almaz on a mobile chassis. Connected to power sources, it coped with this task.
But technological progress does not stand still. The school of specialists in Russia remains. For example, in Tomsk there is the Institute of Atmospheric Optics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, so it constantly shines a laser into the sky. And in Soviet times, he participated in the development of anti-missile lasers.
In addition, there is a program to install a laser system on the Il-76, which is known as the A-60, in Taganrog. It has been undergoing refurbishment, however, for many years now. Such a laser is unlikely to be used as a weapon, but it can illuminate optical instruments, such as reconnaissance aircraft or satellites.
"SP": - There was information in the press about lasers equipped on the MiG-35...
— The one who generated this news apparently has little understanding of what we are talking about. You can't fool physics. It is impossible to place a laser weapon on the MiG-35—that is, a weapon. How impossible it is to “bomb the Moon” from it. Most likely, they are simply planning to install a new laser rangefinder/target designator. But this is not a weapon, although it does use a laser.