Three companies will split a $100 million contract to develop test beds for directed energy weapons.
By Andrew WhiteEnterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
“We’re painting with broad strokes, but we’re diving into what missions of the future will look like. The technology is not quite Star Wars, but we’re getting close,” said Jeremy Murray-Krezan, AFRL’s directed energy deputy chief scientist, says.
By Theresa Hitchens
After years of favoring missiles, Israel is back in the laser business, with Rafael developing a ground-based 100-kW-class weapon and Elbit an airborne one.
By Arie Egozi
“Take a look at what China’s really investing in,” Navy CNO Adm. Mike Gilday said. “Yes, they are putting more ships in the water, but they’re investing heavily in anti-ship missiles as well as satellite systems to be able to target ships. And so I’m mindful of that.”
By Paul McLeary
“Low-collateral effect interceptors” against small drones would be used in “defeating small UAS in urban environments, over sensitive sites, or situations where the rules of engagement would not allow kinetic effects,” DoD’s solicitation to industry says.
By Theresa Hitchens
In April, the Yuma, Ariz. test range will host a competition of “low collateral damage” countermeasures designed to stop mini-drones without firing a shot. But can such a restrained approach stop the drone swarms Russia and others are developing?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
“I’ve watched it in action and its really quite impressive,” says Air Force Chief Scientist Richard Joseph.
By Theresa Hitchens
BAE Systems’ LR-PGK: The Superior Anti-Jam Solution
Going the distance to defeat emerging jam threats.
GA is building a prototype 300-kW missile defense laser for the Pentagon and a 250-kW airborne version with Boeing.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
How do you keep a laser focused on a target moving at hundreds of miles per hour? The answer is crucial to Lockheed lasers being fitted on Army trucks and Air Force fighters over the next few years.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Pentagon’s draft “reference architecture,” which also covers high-powered microwave weapons, will be circulated for industry comment early next year.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Contractors are already “bending metal” on components for both 50-kilowatt and 300-kW lasers, Army scientist Craig Robin said.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. “I spent the first 15 years of my career walking around in a lab with a laser, saying ‘does anyone want this…’ and the warfighter [kept] going ‘that’s adorable,’” Craig Robin recalled ruefully. “Just recently there’s been a tremendous pull [because] we simply just got out it into the user’s hands and they recognized the value.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. In a first, the USS Portland took down a target drone with a new solid state laser this week, the first step in the Navy’s quest to get the powerful weapon on more ships in the future.
By Paul McLeary
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Higher-power radar systems and offensive/defensive systems such as directed energy lasers require new sources of power.
By Breaking Defense Staff
