28: LASER GUNS ON AIRBORNE PLATFORMS

Aerial warfare started with pilots shooting hand held weapons at each other from their aircraft. The aircraft mounted guns replaced these hand held weapons. The aircraft guns improved over the years in terms of the caliber of weapons, rate of fire, ammunition carrying capacity and most important the lethal range. Improvements also took place with respect to the arc of fire, cone of fire and the aiming systems. The aerial combat and the tactics kept changing depending upon the capability of these weapon systems.

Gradually longer range air to air missiles became the weapon of choice for airborne platforms. These missiles advanced from close combat ones to all aspect beyond visual range weapons. The nature of warfare and the tactics underwent a drastic change with these weapons.

The airborne platforms including fighters and combat support heavy aircraft have become vulnerable to modern weapons fired from far ranges. With introduction of hypersonic weapons the reaction time will reduce further increasing their vulnerability.

A need is being felt to have a relatively close in weapon system which can destroy the approaching projectile. Something which can be slewed on to oncoming projectile from any direction, is not limited by amount of ammunition carried, has adequate range & lethality and can be used on all types of airborne platforms. LASER based weapons have been under consideration for quite a long time.

While LASERs would be useful for defensive role but if adequate power can be generated onboard the platform, it can also be used for offensive purpose as well. Lasers are also the best match for high-volume, low-cost threats such as drones which are becoming increasingly prevalent on the battlefield. In other words, lasers could change many aspects of air warfare. Airborne lasers aren’t ready yet, but once they are aerial warfare will never be the same.

LASER as an Alternative

Lasers are invisible to the naked eye and can destroy targets at the speed of light with unmatched precision. Laser weapons are clearly the way forward in aerial warfare. Their use would depend on the amount of power available. For example, lower power lasers could be used to disable or shoot down air-to-air missiles threatening the aircraft. Alternately, they could blind enemy pilots within visual range. Higher power weapons could damage and even destroy aircraft or larger ballistic missiles.

Advantages:

• LASER is unaffected by traditional aircraft gun issues, including weapon accuracy and dispersion due to wind and gravity.

• A laser powered by an onboard generator could provide enough energy for an unlimited number of shots. These directed-energy platforms can strike repeatedly giving them a near-endless supply of ammunition. A laser could simply target anything the pilot sees without the need to lock on.

• A laser is immune to existing countermeasures and cannot be fooled into following decoys. A laser travels at the speed of light, making it impossible to evade.

Challenges:

• So far no country has fielded an actual working airborne laser weapon as they do face significant challenges.
• They are complex and delicate systems.
• They require the ability to generate and store tremendous amount of power.
• They get degraded as they pass through the atmosphere, as airborne particulates such as water, dust, or ice refract laser energy and degrade the power of the beam.

Status USAF:

The U.S. Air Force has already expressed an interest in laser weapons as an “active defense” system. They are looking at self-defense laser pods on KC-135 tankers and as an offensive weapon on AC-130U gunship for targets on the ground. Offensive laser pod is also being considered for F-35 fighter aircraft as a replacement for gun and short range missiles.

Lockheed Martin is helping the USAF Research Laboratory develop and mature high-energy laser weapon pod, including the high-energy laser. Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract for the high-power laser in December 2018 and was expected to deliver in early 2021. The total value of the contract was expected to be $19.3 million. Other aspects of the laser system are under development at the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

The demonstration is expected by end of 2022. The 60-kilowatt high energy laser will be mounted on an AC-130J. The fibre laser is called Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator or SHiELD. If successful, the technology could be a game – changer that could take out surface-to-air and air-to-air missile threats more cheaply than current intercept methods.

PLAF: China is watching the rest of the world, particularly the U.S., and investing in lasers for the same purposes. China’s military is soliciting would-be suppliers for a new airborne laser weapon. According to the South China Morning Post, the official weapons and equipment procurement website of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) published two solicitations, one for airborne laser attack pod and the other for controlling software module of laser attack platforms. Airborne laser pods are expected to be mounted on Chinese warplanes such as the Shenyang J-15 “Flying Shark” carrier-based fighter, J-20 “Mighty Dragon” heavy fighter, and support aircraft such as the Xi’an Y-20 heavy transport aircraft.

References:

1. Article “China’s Airborne Laser Weapon Would Change Dogfighting Forever” by Kyle Mizokami Jan 13, 2020.

2. Article “Future Aerial Weapons” by Air Marshal Anil Chopra.

3. Article “Airborne laser weapon on track for 2022 demonstration” by Nathan Strout.

This is First cut on the subject – Will add on to it with further research on the subject.

Your suggestions for value addition are most welcome.