Basicintroduction
Themainrepresentativesofthisweaponarelasergunsandlasercannons,whichcanemitstronglaserbeamstostriketheenemy.InMarch1978,theworld'sfirstlasergunwasbornintheUnitedStates.
Thestyleoflasergunisnotmuchdifferentfromordinaryrifle.Itismainlycomposedoffourparts:laser,exciter,triggerandbutt.Thereisalreadyarubypocketlaserguninforeigncountries,theshapeandsizeareequivalenttotheParkerpenintheUnitedStates.Butitcanburnclothes,burnthroughfleshandskinafewmetersawayfrompeople,withoutmakingasound,andcausedeathunknowingly,andcancausegunpowdertoexplodewithinacertaindistance,andmakenightvision,infraredorlaserdetection.Thephotoelectricequipmentsuchastherangemeterfails.Therearealso7kindsofsmalllasergunswithaheavierweightsimilartoamachinegun,whichcanpenetratethecopperhelmet,burnfleshandblindeyesatadistanceof1,500meters.
Theroleoflaserweapons
The"eye-diggingtechnique"oftacticallaserweaponscannotonlycauselossofcontroloftheaircraft,destructionoftheaircraft,orlossofthegunner’sabilitytofight,butalsobecausethesoldiersdonotknowtheopponent.Whenandwherelaserweaponswillappear,theyareoftenunderheavypsychologicalpressure.Therefore,laserweaponshaveadeterrenteffectthatconventionalweaponsdonothave.Duringthe1982British-ArmenianWar,Britaininstalledlaserblindingweaponsonaircraftcarriersandvariousfrigates,whichcausedmanyArgentineaircrafttolosecontrol,crashorstrayintotheBritishfirenet.
Intermsofdesign,advancedtacticallaserscancompletelydestroygroundtargetsandaresuitableforinstallationonaircraftsuchasC-130transportaircraft.Inareas10,000feethighand5milesaway,this40,000-poundmegawattchemicallasercanpenetrateatank.Advancedtacticallaserscanquicklyandcontinuouslyattackupto100targets.OnJuly19,theU.S.NavyconductedatestoffthecoastofCalifornia,shootingdownfourunmannedaircraftwithanti-aircraftlaserbeamsanddeployingthisweapononthewarship.
Application
Thewarmachineofthe"Terminator"eraisfinallycoming-theinvisibletacticallaserweapontacticallaserweapontechnologyisacutting-edgetechnologythatisrapidlydevelopingabroadandhasattractedgreatattentionfrommilitarypowerssuchastheUnitedStates.Tacticallaserweaponsusedirectionalhigh-energylaserbeamstoreplacetraditionalchemicalandmechanicalenergyas"munitions"tokillordestroytargets.Tacticallaserweaponscanbeusedtoperformvarioustacticaloffensiveanddefensivetasks,andcanbeusedtosoftentacticaltargetssuchasaircraftanddrones./Hardkill.Itsoperatingdistanceisusuallyonlytensofkilometersorevenlessthanafewkilometers,andtheaverageoutputpowerofthelaserisgenerallybelow1megawatt.
Institutionsengagedinresearchontacticallaserweaponsincludemilitarylaboratoriesaswellasuniversitiesordefensecompanies.U.S.defensecompaniesengagedinthedevelopmentoftacticallaserweaponsincludeBoeing,LockheedMartin,NorthropGrumman,Raytheon,GeneralAtomics,etc.Thesecompanieshavebothcompetitionandcooperationinresearchwork..Atthesametime,someprivatecompaniessuchasStanfordUniversityandOptonicsarealsoactivelyparticipatingintheresearchofcertainspecifictechnologies.
Tacticallaserweapontechnologybelongstoabranchoflaserweapontechnology.Accordingtoenergyandpowerlevel,tacticallaserweaponcanbefurtherdividedintolow-energytacticallaserweapontechnologyandtacticalhigh-energylaserweapontechnology.Intermsofsystemstructure,high-energytacticallaserweapontechnologymainlyinvolveshigh-energy/high-powerlasertechnology,precisetargettrackingandaimingtechnology,andhigh-precisionbeamcontroltechnology,amongwhichhigh-energy/high-powerlasertechnologyisitscorepart.
Thedevelopmentoftacticallaserweapontechnologyfocusesonthefieldofhigh-energytacticallaserweapontechnology.Inordertopromotethedevelopmentoflaserweapons,theUnitedStateshassuccessivelylaunchedtwohigh-energylaserresearchprograms.
In2002,theUnitedStatesHighEnergyLaserJointTechnologyOfficeandthethreeservicesjointlylaunchedtheJointHighPowerSolidStateLaser(JHPSSL)program.Thepurposeofthisplanistopromotethedevelopmentofsolid-statelasertechnologyanddevelopalaboratorydevicewithapoweroutputofonlykilowattsintoalaboratorydevicewithafairlygoodbeamqualityandanoutputpowerofmorethan100kilowatts.
In2010,inordertomeetthemilitary'sdemandforhigh-power,high-efficiency,compact,andelectrically-drivenlasers,theHighEnergyLaserJointTechnologyOffice,togetherwiththeArmyandAirForce,jointlylaunchedtheDurableElectricLaser(RELI)program.Before2016,ahigh-energylaserwith25kilowattsthatcanbeintegratedintoamilitaryplatformandexpandableto100kilowatts,anelectro-opticalconversionefficiencyofmorethan30%,andabeamqualityof1.1to2wasdeveloped.Withthedevelopmentofsolid-state(includingopticalfiber)high-energylasertechnology,themilitaryanddefensecompanieshavealsolaunchedanumberoftacticallaserweaponresearchprograms.
In2012,theU.S.ArmylaunchedtheHighEnergyLaserMobilityDemonstrationPrototype(HEL-MD)program,aimingtobuilda60-kilowattfiberlaserdemonstrationprototypetoverifytheimpactofrockets,artilleryshells,mortarsandnon-combustibleTheinterceptioncapabilitiesofman-machineshaveenteredthesecondstage;theUSNavyhaslaunchedprojectssuchasLaserWeaponSystem(LaWS)andSolid-StateLaserWeaponTechnology(SSL-TM).Improvedcarrier-basedfiberlaserweaponsonbattleshipssuchasBurke’sdestroyerscandealwithtypicalmaritimeandairtargets;theU.S.AirForcehaslaunchedtheLargeAircraftElectro-LaserWeaponThe“areadefensesystem”(HELLADS)isintegratedintotheB-1Bstrategicbombertosuppresstypicalground/airtargets.
In2013,Rheinmetalllauncheda60-kilowattfiberlaserweapondemonstrationprogram.