According to the US "Forbes" magazine website on October 7, 2021, on October 6, 2021, Lockheed Martin announced that the US Air Force has accepted a new airborne high-energy laser (AHEL), which is installed on the AC-130J "Ghost Rider" aerial gunboat aircraft and flight tested.
In a statement, Lockheed Martin Vice President Rick Cordaro said: "Our technology is ready for use, and the successful delivery of airborne high-energy laser weapons is a testament to the important progress we have made with the U.S. Air Force in the development of laser weapon systems." ”
【AC-130J air gunboat aircraft has successfully installed a new airborne high-energy laser weapon system of 60 kilowatts】
The article pointed out that because the development of airborne high-energy laser weapons has not been smooth, this achievement is very remarkable. In 2015, Lt. Gen. Bradley Haysold, former commander of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (SOCOM), said the U.S. military's goal was to test high-energy laser weapons on ac-130J air gunboat aircraft by 2020. While other laser weapons have made good progress in shipboard applications, installing high-energy laser weapons into aircraft with limitations in size, weight, and power is more challenging.
For six years, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command has been working with the Naval Surface Warfare Center In Virginia,Dalgren Division to develop military aircraft equipped with laser weapons, and they have conducted a series of studies and ground tests on airborne high-energy laser weapon systems before delivering airborne high-energy laser weapons. Their next goal is to use the laser weapon for a launch demonstration in 2022.
Airborne high-energy laser weapons are just one in a series of new projects the Pentagon has embarked on to showcase smaller, more compact laser weapons, until recently made public. The biggest difference is the output power of laser weapons, with airborne high-energy laser weapons rated at 60 kilowatts, while some of the more powerful new naval laser weapons can produce power of up to 150 kilowatts or more.
【U.S. Navy equipped with 60 kilowatts class "Odin" shipborne laser weapon system】
According to the article, the AC-130J "Ghost Rider" air gunboat aircraft is an upgraded version of the AC-130, which already has a powerful arsenal, and laser weapons will be a strong complement to the original arsenal rather than replace them. The AC-130J's arsenal includes 105 mm howitzers and 30 mm rapid-fire guns, as well as modern precision strike systems, including 113 kg of GBU-39 GPS-guided small-diameter bombs and 15.4 kg of AGM-176 Griffin laser-guided missiles.
In contrast, laser weapons with an output of 60 kilowatts are much weaker.
However, laser weapons can do something that existing weapons can't: they can perform secret strikes. Laser weapons are silent, laser beams are invisible; not only do laser weapons have no muzzle explosions or flashes of light, but the effects on the target may not be noticed at first. The so-called "scalable effect" of laser weapons involves melting vehicle tires or causing radar or communication antennas to fail without triggering an attack explosion. Such a laser weapon can quietly start a fire, which John Corley, director of the Air Force's Air Force Air Weapons Center, calls "reasonable prevarication" as an excuse.
【50 kW M-SHORAD laser weapon system mounted on STRKER armored vehicles】
The article concludes by pointing out that at the moment, anyone who thinks that a series of wildfires was caused by a secret laser weapon attack is likely to be ridiculed, which is correct. But in a few years, it may be much harder to distinguish conspiracy theories from reality.
Author: Ningpu
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