<\/u>Desde buques de guerra, aviones de combate, veh\u00edculos militares y hasta sistemas aut\u00f3nomos, las Armas LASER est\u00e1n demostrando cada vez con m\u00e1s frecuencia, que est\u00e1n listas para entrar en combate. Ya ha quedado atr\u00e1s la etapa de los L\u00e1seres simplemente como sistemas de medici\u00f3n de distancias o se\u00f1alamiento de blancos. Las Armas de Energ\u00eda Directa, ocupan hoy un lugar de relevancia dentro de los sistemas de armas letales.<\/p>\n
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The 21st Century already has seen more \u201cscience fiction\u201d become everyday fact than at any other time in history, from smart phones that make Star Trek\u2019s communicators appear primitive to the Robonaut \u2014 a C3P0-like humanoid robot working on the International Space Station \u2014 to perhaps the most iconic of all: laser weapons.<\/p>\n
Directed-energy weapons (DEWs) have been a staple of future warfare depictions since H.G. Wells published \u201cWar of the Worlds,\u201d with its Martian \u201cheat rays,\u201d 120 years ago. Hughes Aircraft engineer and physicist Theodore Harold Maimain generally is credited with inventing the laser, firing the world\u2019s first coherent light \u2014 in-phase rays of the same wavelength \u2014 from his solid-state pink ruby laser on 16 May 1960.<\/p>\n
Progress from that point moved steadily forward technologically, but lasers found little support from military leaders, who saw them as little more than weak, short-range toys. One of the first large-scale productions of lasers actually was in toys, along with laser pointers. As they became stronger, with longer ranges, the military began using laser beams to illuminate targets; warfighters on the ground or aboard helicopters would focus a beam on a target, and a rocket, typically fired from a second platform, would follow the beam to the target.<\/p>\n
Laser-guided weapons improved significantly during the long post-9\/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, becoming part of the U.S. military\u2019s arsenal of precision guided weapons that greatly reduced collateral damage to property and non-combatants. Experiments continue to expand the way in which lasers are and will be used by the military, such as recharging unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in flight.<\/p>\n
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Weapons that could halt enemy tanks and infantry or bring down hostile UAVs, bomb-carrying balloons, or manned aircraft, disable satellites, or destroy missiles in flight remain a top goal \u2014 and one that already has been demonstrated and almost certainly will see widespread military deployment by the 2020s. How soon they will become an integral and significant part of U.S. military capability \u201cis a customer-driven decision,\u201d Ron Dauk, a program manager for laser and electro-optical systems at the Boeing Co. Directed Energy Systems segment in Albuquerque, N.M.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are starting to see customers purchase multiple laser weapons systems and move toward how to integrate those into standard deployed combat forces. So I would say that time frame is sooner rather than later, perhaps even this year, Dauk says. \u201cThe technologies and capabilities are relative enough to demonstrate that, as we have with the Stryker system in Germany in recent months. So I think it\u2019s coming pretty soon,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Some of the near-term pushes in deployable laser weapons are in ground and naval applications, which is probably where laser weapons will first cross the threshold to be deployed, Dauk says. \u201cThere is more of a challenge in airborne systems that can operate effectively within the constraints of an airborne platform. So the Army and Navy probably will be the first, but with the Air Force not far behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
With all the services working on laser weapons, he adds, the near term will see several new opportunities to bring unique capabilities to the battlefield, to engage targets very cost-effectively, and meet the need for a mix of various responses and capabilities. \u201cThey provide a great solution to shooting down a $600 quad-copter with a dollar-a-shot laser,\u201d Dauk says.<\/p>\n
The ability to bring lasers to all kinds of high-level applications probably will happen between 2025 and 2035, Dauk says. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at how to bring lasers to all kinds of higher-level applications, such as ship defense for airborne self-protection,\u201d Dauk says. \u201cLasers can provide solutions to some very hard targets right now \u2014 and with the technology increasing and developing, they really are becoming a viable option, to the point where the military can seriously consider a laser weapons system in their mix of capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rhoan Boucher, directed energy lead for Boeing\u2019s Integrated Air and Missile Defense, is quick to note laser weapons, despite rapid technological evolution and unique capabilities, will not replace existing or future kinetic weapons in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe view lasers as complementary to current systems, not competitive. It allows field commanders to dial an effect. They want the option to be able to decide what the best mix is to go after a particular target and lasers will increase those options, today and in the future, while keeping costs low,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) at Redstone, Arsenal, Ala., is in charge of meeting requirements for lasers in missile defense for Army UAVs and helicopters, and for ground troops and vehicles. The Army is looking at several potential laser weapon systems, platforms and use strategies, including enhancing the maneuver force with adjustable non-lethal-to-lethal lasers mounted on combat vehicles.<\/p>\n
One of those efforts demonstrated arming a Stryker combat vehicle with a 5-kilowatt Mobile Expeditionary High-Energy Laser (MEHEL), which completed a hard-kill challenge at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., before going to Fort Sill, Okla., where regular soldiers began testing it, says Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command.<\/p>\n
The next challenge is to install a 100-kilowatt laser on a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck to provide laser weapons for brigade combat teams. Those programs and others mark a significant milestone in the history of laser weapons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are no longer lab systems. They are being built and taken out into the field or being readied for deployment. We\u2019re no longer talking about the art of the possible,\u201d says Rob Afzal, senior fellow-laser and sensor systems at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Missions Systems. \u201cWe\u2019re just at the beginning and these systems will evolve to more power from the laser, more capability from the sensors and continuing reduction in SWaP [size, weight and power], so they can be more capable on more platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laser weapons offer several advantages, Afzal says. \u201cIts importance, is two-fold: great precision with low collateral damage and, second, the cost-exchange ratio. If the operation of the system is very low-cost, once installed, being able to use it in an asymmetric way against other low-cost threats will play a very important role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laser weapons are moving out of the laboratory and into the field at a quickening pace. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on moving laser weapons systems out of the lab and onto the battlefield to give our warfighters a decisive advantage,\u201d says Ben Allison, high-energy laser product line director of advanced concepts and technology at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in El Segundo, Calif.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that goal in mind, we\u2019re investing in ready-now capabilities and near-term technologies,\u201d he says. \u201cFor example, we\u2019ve put the MTS [Multi-spectral Targeting System] at the center of our solution. With more than 4 million combat hours, it\u2019s a proven sensor with unmatched detection and tracking capabilities. We\u2019re coupling MTS with mature, fiber-combined lasers and demonstrating our capabilities in real-world scenarios.<\/p>\n
Raytheon demonstrated the company\u2019s High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS) late last year at the Army\u2019s Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment at Fort Sill, Okla., aboard a Polaris MRZR small all-terrain vehicle. The system identified, tracked, fired on, and destroyed a mix of 12 small- and medium-sized UAVs. Company officials also worked with separate Army organizations to demonstrate the HELWS on the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.<\/p>\n
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Allison notes the laser itself is only one component of a laser weapons system. \u201cThe laser is just part of the solution. The beam director, power and thermal systems are equally important components. State-of-the-art for HEL is about the art of the possible. It comes down to how you make the subsystems \u2014 beam directing, power, and thermal \u2014 work together to create an integrated solution. Optimization is the key,\u201d he says, adding creating such an optimized and integrated solution opens the door for lasers in a wide range of applications.\u201d<\/p>\n
Almost every military platform considered appropriate for laser weapons is under consideration for HELWS, Allison says. Some examples include the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Humvee, the Army the Stryker and FMTV, and the army and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) AH-64 attack helicopter and MH-60 utility helicopter.<\/p>\n
Also under consideration for laser weapons is the MRZR light tactical vehicle for rapid deployment, the F-15 jet fighter for the Air Force Research Laboratory\u2019s Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, and the AC-130 utility turboprop aircraft. \u201cFixed installations for area protection also are important,\u201d Allison says.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Air Force has long pushed the boundaries of laser and support technologies, seeking ways to integrate a high-energy laser and the power and cooling systems they require into the already densely packed spaces in military aircraft, especially jet fighters.<\/p>\n
Air Force aircraft and spacecraft also share responsibility for missile defense. The Air Force directed-energy weapons flight plan systems in development are to deliver effects against adversary systems and not directly against humans.<\/p>\n
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is overseeing several laser weapon efforts, yet its SHiELD project is the science and technology priority. SHiELD\u2019s goal is to integrate a high-energy laser system onto a tactical aircraft to demonstrate self-protection against incoming threats.<\/p>\n
Laser systems have been integrated into several ground and sea military platforms like the Army\u2019s HEL-MD demonstrator and the Navy\u2019s Laser Weapon System (LaWS), as well as large aircraft like the Airborne Laser [ABL] and the Advanced Tactical Laser.<\/p>\n
\u201cSHiELD will take these advances one step further in reducing size and weight and ruggedizing the system for use on a tactical aircraft,\u201d says Michael Jirjis, directed energy experimentation lead at the Air Force Research Lab.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Air Force is also pushing money to other efforts not within AFRL, examining options to use some directed energy prototyping funding on an AC-130 gunship and to support the high-value aircraft defensive mission set,\u201d Jirjis says.<\/p>\n
The Air Force Strategy document \u2014 \u201cAmerica\u2019s Air Force: A Call to the Future\u201d \u2014 calls directed energy a \u201cgame-changing\u201d technology offering transformational capabilities to airmen, enabling them to \u201ceffectively, affordably and rapidly defeat massed attacks from an adversary and to strike critical targets at the speed of light,\u201d according to the Air Force directed-energy weapons flight plan.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nRaytheon is working with U.S. Special Operations Command to fire a directed energy beam onto a ground target from the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, shown above, as well as from other military helicopters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThese same weapons can provide the ability to precisely engage targets of interest with little to no collateral impacts or detectable disturbance and provide protection to Air Force assets that must operate in harm\u2019s way. directed-energy weapons provide flexibility by offering an increased range of effects when used in conjunction with conventional weapons. The range of effects include destroy, damage, disable or disrupt and the effects can be permanent, temporary or reversible,\u201d the Flight Plan states.<\/p>\n
While great strides have been made in the past few years, the next generation of laser weapons will need advancements in several areas to make such systems more operationally viable against a larger number of targets, Allison says. Those areas include high-density power systems based on lithium battery technology; sensors and tracking; advanced RF systems; laser power from tens to hundreds of kilowatts, depending on the mission; and all laser ranges from base defense near-range to long ranges for advanced capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdvanced algorithms and computing contribute to a more capable target track system, providing for quicker, more precise and more efficient engagements, says the Air Force Research Lab\u2019s Jirjis. \u201cThe power and thermal management system directly impacts the rate at which you can fire and recharge the high-energy laser. Advanced optics provide greater sensor and effector capability in a variety of conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lasers aren\u2019t just all about weapons. \u201cAirborne high-energy laser systems will be used as hybrid sensors and effectors for certain target sets in the near future,\u201d Jirjis says. \u201cLasers may ensure aircraft survivability and defend against long-range threats. Ground-based high-energy laser systems will soon become a limited \u2014 but key \u2014 part of the Air Defense network. Eventually, they may even replace some certain kinetic air defense systems. The Navy has already fielded demonstrators on ships and is aggressively driving development and fielding more advanced systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nRaytheon is demonstrating a prototype high-energy laser weapon for its suitability for tactical aircraft like the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, shown above.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The past year has seen a significant level of activity and program advancements in laser weapons, says Lockheed Martin\u2019s Afzal. The first program that Lockheed Martin won was Laser Advancements for Next-generation Compact Environments (LANCE), an Air Force Research Lab to build a high-power laser.<\/p>\n
LANCE is part of a larger program called SHIELD, which is a demonstration to put laser weapon into a pod, Afzal says. The company also won the next phase of the Army High-Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HELTVD) program to put a laser on a military truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest award of that period was from the Navy for the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance [HELIOS], to build and deliver a complete laser weapon for integration onto a destroyer. Its function is to engage and destroy UAVs and small boats. It also has a non-lethal optical dazzling capability over long distances to dazzle surveillance sensors,\u201d Afzal says.<\/p>\n
Where the world is headed with laser weapons is part of discussions within each armed service and collectively across the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. allies, and potential adversaries. Discussions range across applications, from short-range, low-power, and non-lethal to high-energy lasers capable of destroying a ballistic missile in flight.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nLockheed Martin has demonstrated the company\u2019s Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) laser against medium-sized UAVs like the MQM-170C G2 Outlaw, shown above.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cAcross all our military services and agencies, everyone has some type of technology demonstration or prototype under development,\u201d says Paul Shattuck, director of directed energy systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif. This has led to major acquisitions and programs of record, he says.<\/p>\n
Lockheed Martin\u2019s Advanced Test High Energy Asset system, also known as ATHENA, is a prototype laser weapon system designed to defeat close-in, low-value threats like rockets, UAVs, and small boats. It is a transportable, ground-based system that serves as a low-cost test bed for demonstrating military laser weapons technologies. A ruggedized variant of the system would be suitable for military operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cATHENA is a complete, self-contained laser weapon system designed primarily for tactical operations, such as defending forward bases against rockets, artillery, UAVs,\u201d Shattuck says. ATHENA has been in operation since 2012, and this past year was 5-for-5 in tests against the MQM-170C G2 Outlaw medium-size UAV from Griffon Aerospace in Madison, Ala.<\/p>\n
In the Fall of 2017, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in Huntsville, Ala., awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin, General Atomics, and Boeing to develop preliminary designs for the Low Power Laser Demonstrator (LPLD), concluding two years of concept designs. During Phase 3, tentatively scheduled for 2019 through 2023, one or more of those designs will be built and flight-tested to demonstrate the ability to acquire a missile in flight and hold the laser beam steadily on-target.<\/p>\n
The question of whether artificial intelligence may be relevant for laser weapons hovers over the technology. \u201cAs multiple asymmetric threats become more prevalent, AI could play a significant role in detection, targeting and aim point selection and maintenance,\u201d says Raytheon\u2019s Allison.<\/p>\n
Many grades of artificial intelligence exist today for target detection, identification, and tracking, yet in the near future a human always will be involved in the process.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nRaytheon is demonstrating the feasibility of designing mobile laser weapons mounted to light tactical vehicles to protect warfighters and equipment on the front line from unmanned aircraft, rockets, mortars, and artillery shells.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIn next-generation systems, you\u2019ll see more intelligence added into the laser weapon, especially as new intelligence and targets come on line,\u201d Allison says. \u201cAs you add in continuing improvements in targets, laser weapons will be integrated into larger systems of systems and a layered type of defensive system, with various sensors fused together and tasking of weapons depending on who has the highest possibility of prosecuting the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Determining how these weapons will function in the real world will play an important role. \u201cAs you get these into the field, it\u2019s really learning their capabilities, probably finding things you didn\u2019t expect that will open up new avenues for offensive and defensive operations and rules of engagement \u2014 and that\u2019s when they really come into their own,\u201d Allison says.<\/p>\n
There is general agreement across the military that laser weapons will not replace legacy nor future new kinetic systems, but will become a significant and integral part of a new offensive and defensive, lethal and non-lethal, increasingly accurate, flexible, multi-platform weapons system-of-systems.<\/p>\n
Unlike the past four decades, however, the U.S. will not be alone in this evolution and is certain to face peer and near-peer adversaries who are pouring more and more resources into developing and quickly fielding weapons that will change the face of warfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can no longer rely on superior numbers of weapons and must leverage disruptive technologies to increase the effectiveness of our weapons. Although directed energy weapons cannot replace kinetic capabilities, they have the potential to become powerful new force-multipliers and greatly reduce the overall cost of conducting key U.S. offensive and defensive operations,\u201d predicts the Air Force Research Lab\u2019s Jirjis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, a combination of non-kinetic and kinetic systems could enable U.S. forces to prevail more rapidly over enemies fielding sophisticated anti-access\/aerial denial weapons,\u201d Jirjis says. \u201cLasers and High-Power Microwaves are being explored to offer transformational capabilities in combat scenarios to ensure our airmen the highest protection in an ever-increasingly dangerous environment.\u201d<\/p>\n