{"id":2729,"date":"2018-03-03T07:58:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T10:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nachodelatorre.com.ar\/mosconi\/?p=2729"},"modified":"2018-03-03T07:58:01","modified_gmt":"2018-03-03T10:58:01","slug":"helios-primer-arma-laser-instalada-en-un-destructor-de-la-us-navy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/?p=2729","title":{"rendered":"HELIOS: primer arma l\u00e1ser instalada en un destructor de la US Navy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A la luz de los progresos alcanzados por\u00a0LOCKHEED MARTIN, en el desarrollo de “High Energy LASER” para equipar a nuevos buques de guerra de la US NAVY, en el 2020 el sistema\u00a0HELIOS\u00a0estar\u00e1 operativo en un buque de la\u00a0clase ARLEIGH BURKE. Con una potencia de hasta 150Kw y capacidad de disparo ilimitada, es capaz de neutralizar la amenaza de drones o peque\u00f1os botes, con mayor eficiencia y menor costo que los sistemas de defensa antia\u00e9rea convencionales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"LockheedWASHINGTON: By 2020, for the first time, the US Navy will put a lethal\u00a0laser<\/a>\u00a0on a warship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very big deal,\u201d said\u00a0Mark Gunzinger<\/a>\u00a0of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, a longtime advocate of lasers.\u00a0\u201cIt is clear evidence of the progress that has been made over the last several years on maturing solid state lasers.\u00a0 We are talking about lasers that now have the power and beam quality needed to defend against UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), small boat threats, and possibly some weapons (e.g. incoming missiles) over short ranges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also highlights how serious the Navy is about fielding non-kinetic defenses with deep \u2018electric\u2019 magazines,\u201d Gunzinger said. Unlike guns and missiles, a laser doesn\u2019t run out of ammunition as long as it has electrical power.<\/p>\n

While contractor\u00a0Lockheed Martin<\/a>\u00a0wouldn\u2019t disclose specifics, the\u00a0HELIOS<\/a>\u00a0laser puts out somewhere between 60 and 150 kilowatts. That means it\u2019s at least twice as powerful \u2014 possibly five times \u2014 as the\u00a030-kW LAWS<\/a>\u00a0laser demonstrator deployed in 2014 to the Persian Gulf. LAWS was able to shoot down drones and disable small boats, and temporarily blind (or \u201cdazzle\u201d) sensors, as well as use its targeting optics as a kind of super-telescope.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been working on lasers for decades,\u201d Lockheed senior scientist\u00a0Rob Afzal<\/a>\u00a0told reporters told reporters. \u201cTo me, the HELIOS contract is really a watershed moment\u2026.We\u2019re crossing out of science and technology and building real capability for the\u00a0Navy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another big difference with HELIOS is that LAWS was installed somewhat ad hoc on the support ship USS\u00a0Ponce.\u00a0<\/em>HELIOS will go on the mainstay of the\u00a0battle fleet<\/a>, an\u00a0Arleigh Burke-class destroyer<\/a><\/em>, and it will be fully integrated into the ship\u2019s Aegis combat system,\u00a0Afzal said.<\/p>\n

Electrical power for the laser may pose a problem on Navy ships like the\u00a0Arleigh Burkes<\/em>, which weren\u2019t designed with a lot of kilowatts to spare. Newer designs like the\u00a0DDG-1000\u00a0Zumwalt<\/em>\u00a0destroyer<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0CVN-78\u00a0Ford<\/em>\u00a0aircraft carrier<\/a>\u00a0are built with a comfortable margin to accommodate electricity-hungry equipment \u2014 lasers,\u00a0railguns<\/a>, sensors, and more \u2014 but backfitting such systems onto older ships is tricky.<\/p>\n

\"Navy<\/p>\n

So how can an\u00a0Arleigh Burke<\/em>\u00a0destroyer accommodate HELIOS? That\u2019s up to the Navy, which isn\u2019t talking yet. Under the $150 million contract\u2019s, Lockheed\u2019s job is<\/p>\n