How About A C-130H Laser Gunship?
Boeing is flight
testing its Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept
Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program and has generated "first
light" of ATL's high-energy chemical laser in ground tests. This
achieves two key milestones in the laser gunship development
effort.
During the "low-power" flight tests, which began Oct. 10 and
conclude this fall, the ATL ACTD system will find and track ground
targets at White Sands Missile Range, NM. A low-power, solid-state
laser will serve as a surrogate for ATL's high-power chemical
laser.
To prepare for the tests, Boeing outfitted a USAF 46th Test Wing
C-130H with flight demonstration hardware at Crestview Aerospace
Corp. in Crestview, FL. The hardware includes the beam director and
optical control bench -- the laser's aiming system -- and weapon
system consoles, which will display high-resolution imagery and
enable the tracking of targets. Sensors aboard the aircraft will
track and log "hits" from the laser.
Boeing first fired the high-energy chemical laser in ground
tests on Sept. 21 in Albuquerque, NM -- known as "first light."
Testing will conclude this fall. Boeing intends to install and
flight test the laser on the aircraft in 2007. The team will fire
the laser at mission-representative ground targets demonstrating
the systems military capability. The laser will fire through a
rotating turret extending through a 50-inch hole in the aircraft's
belly.
Boeing's vice president and general manager for Missile Defense
Systems Pat Shanahan says, "ATL will transform the battlefield by
giving the warfighter a speed-of-light, precision engagement
capability that will reduce collateral damage dramatically. The
start of flight and laser testing shows that Boeing is making solid
progress toward making this revolutionary capability a
reality."
Boeing is developing ATL for the U.S. Department of Defense
through an ACTD program.
ATL will destroy, damage or disable targets with little to no
collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in
urban operations. ATL will produce scalable effects, meaning the
weapon operator will be able to select the degree and nature of the
damage done to a target by choosing a specific aimpoint and laser
shot duration. For example, targeting the fuel tank of a vehicle
could result in total destruction of the vehicle, while targeting a
tire might result in the vehicle stopping without injury to the
driver.
Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser industry team includes L-3
Communications/Brashear, which made the laser turret, and HYTEC,
Inc., which made various structural elements of the weapon
system.