Navy to get weapon of light

[nitesh]

Navy to get weapon of light- Hindustan Times

Navy to get weapon of light

The laser is emerging out of the realm of sci-fi to debut in combat. For the first time, coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to unleash the technology’s vast potential to combat the threat of insurgent missile and rocket attacks.

Signalling a revolution in military hardware, India too can grab a slice of that technology with the US proposing to equip the navy’s second-largest warship INS Jalashwa with a new generation laser system that would enable it to blast enemy missiles in the sky.

The new weapon can easily be mounted alongside the Jalashwa’s Phalanx close-in weapon system for shooting down incoming targets at the speed of light, claimed US defence firm Raytheon that has found military application for the laser. The Phalanx currently uses advanced radar and computer technology to locate, identify and direct a stream of 20 mm armour-piercing projectiles to the target.

Admiral Walter F. Doran (retd), head of Raytheon’s Asia business, told HT at the Farnborough international airshow that the laser system slaved to the Phalanx would significantly enhance the Jalashwa’s defence capabilities to decimate incoming threats. Installed on all US combatant ships, the Phalanx provides a warship last-chance defence against anti-ship missiles and close-in-air and surface threats that may have penetrated other fleet defences.

The reason British MoD and US military want to equip their forces with laser power is the obvious advantages it enjoys over bullets — the laser can shoot forever as long as there is electricity.

The laser discharges energy beams to destroy targets. Raytheon’s chief of directed energy systems Mike Booen said this new breed of weaponry, labeled “directed-energy weapons”, could be adopted for ground, air and sea warfare. Land-based Phalanx systems are on the verge of being deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The laser has already been tested for its capability to destroy 60 mm mortars.

 

[Flintlock]

I'm no expert....but I guess with lasers, if they miss their primary target, they'll keep going till they hit another one.

 

[nitesh]

I'm no expert....but I guess with lasers, if they miss their primary target, they'll keep going till they hit another one.

But lasers are light, so they can't have same power till infinite distance, they will be effective till certain range.

 

[Flintlock]

But lasers are light, so they can't have same power till infinite distance, they will be effective till certain range.

Yeah, well. That's what I meant.

Their range will be far, far more than any missile.

 

[Myth_buster_1]

Pakistan operates 6 Phalanx systems...
but i think these laser system "if on board on IN ships" may be used as secondary weapon along with close-in weapon system like Phalanx..

 

[nitesh]

Pakistan operates 6 Phalanx systems...
but i think these laser system "if on board on IN ships" may be used as secondary weapon along with close-in weapon system like Phalanx..

This is what the article mentions

he new weapon can easily be mounted alongside the Jalashwa’s Phalanx close-in weapon system for shooting down incoming targets at the speed of light, claimed US defence firm Raytheon that has found military application for the laser.

 

[Keysersoze]

Errrr one point i would make is that the USN doesn't operate such a system yet on their ships. When they do I would expect the system to be viable.

 

[nitesh]

Errrr one point i would make is that the USN doesn't operate such a system yet on their ships. When they do I would expect the system to be viable.

Sir ji, pl read the article, this weapon "is about to be deployed".

 

[Always Neutral]

Errrr one point i would make is that the USN doesn't operate such a system yet on their ships. When they do I would expect the system to be viable.

Dear Keys,

You are quite right. I doubt a weapon still to enter USN service is going to be given to India so easily.

A Laser Phalanx?

A Laser Phalanx?
12-Sep-2007 16:20 EDT

Related Stories: Americas - USA, R&D - Private, Raytheon


Jane’s reports from the British DSEi exhibition that Raytheon is working on a Phalanx variant that can fire lasers. Kevin Peppe, Raytheon’s Phalanx program director, said that:

“The Centurion system has provided a near-term C-RAM (Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortars) solution for our deployed forces. But we know that our customers would like a larger defended footprint beyond the kinematics of a gunbased system. A missile is too expensive, so we are looking instead at a solution based on the adaptation of a robust but relatively lowpower, low beam-quality commercial laser…. By using clever optics to focus the laser beam at range, we demonstrated that we could achieve sufficient energy on target to deflagrate a 60mm mortar round.”

According to Peppe, such a solution would offer an effective range about 3 times that of the existing M61A1 gun, along with lower life-cycle costs. Even so, more powerful solid-state lasers will probably be required in order to make the concept feasible…


Not just mortarsMost mortar rounds are larger than 60mm, as are the rockets that featured so prominently in the 2006 Lebanon proxy war.

Naval deployment, meanwhile, would be affected by atmospheric humidity that weakens lasers. It would also have to contend with the growing reality of supersonic ship-killer missiles. They have added advantages against any weapon that must be held on target for a period of time in order to work, and even supersonic missile pieces have enough kinetic energy to cause great damage unless the incoming object is slowed or deflected by an opposing kinetic force.

A naval defense laser, therefore, would require enough power to burn through enemy missiles almost immediately. It would also have to work in such a way that large supersonic missiles either fragment into relatively small pieces when hit, or can be hit to kill at enough stand-off distance thanks to sufficiently timely engagement, extra range, and sufficient burn power at range even through high-moisture atmospheric conditions. Like fog, for instance. Or rain.

A laser-based Phalanx system certainly sounds interesting. Nevertheless, there are a number of hurdles to cross and tests to pass before it can be considered a true advance over the current set of slug-throwing “last chance” systems out there.

 

[nitesh]

AN, this article has appeared after a almost a year of the article you posted. So there might be a substance in to it, or may be a sales ploy.

 

[Always Neutral]

AN, this article has appeared after a almost a year of the article you posted. So there might be a substance in to it, or may be a sales ploy.

Raytheon Will Test-fire Phalanx Laser This Year
By pierre tran
Published: 18 Jun 12:22 EDT (16:22 GMT) Print | Email

Paris - Raytheon plans to stage a live-fire trial of a laser beam against a 60mm mortar round later this year as it develops a laser area defense system based on the Phalanx gun and radar system, a company executive said June 18 at the Eurosatory trade show.

The laser firing is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year in Tucson, Ariz., said George Svitak, business development director of directed energy and nonlethal systems. A live-fire trial would be one of the last steps in the development of the system, he said. The laser would detonate the mortar round in flight.

Raytheon has invested "well over $10 million" of company funds in laser development, focused on particular applications, Svitak said. The company has grafted an industrial-quality 20-kilowat laser onto the Phalanx close-in weapon system, which combines radar and Gatling gun as a last defense against enemy attack.

Phalanx equips the U.S. Navy, which lists the laser development as No. 5 on its unfunded requirement for the fiscal year 2010, Svitak said. A ground test of the laser was successful, delivering proof of the principle.

A laser weapon would allow longer-range engagement beyond the present Gatling machine gun and provide an extra layer of defense, Svitak said.

Here is a current article. I don't see it entering service before 2012 in the USN and not before 2015 in the Indian Navy.

Regards

 

[nitesh]

Raytheon Will Test-fire Phalanx Laser This Year
By pierre tran
Published: 18 Jun 12:22 EDT (16:22 GMT) Print | Email

Paris - Raytheon plans to stage a live-fire trial of a laser beam against a 60mm mortar round later this year as it develops a laser area defense system based on the Phalanx gun and radar system, a company executive said June 18 at the Eurosatory trade show.

The laser firing is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year in Tucson, Ariz., said George Svitak, business development director of directed energy and nonlethal systems. A live-fire trial would be one of the last steps in the development of the system, he said. The laser would detonate the mortar round in flight.

Raytheon has invested "well over $10 million" of company funds in laser development, focused on particular applications, Svitak said. The company has grafted an industrial-quality 20-kilowat laser onto the Phalanx close-in weapon system, which combines radar and Gatling gun as a last defense against enemy attack.

Phalanx equips the U.S. Navy, which lists the laser development as No. 5 on its unfunded requirement for the fiscal year 2010, Svitak said. A ground test of the laser was successful, delivering proof of the principle.

A laser weapon would allow longer-range engagement beyond the present Gatling machine gun and provide an extra layer of defense, Svitak said.

Here is a current article. I don't see it entering service before 2012 in the USN and not before 2015 in the Indian Navy.

Regards

Sir, please check the article which i posted, the last line is

The laser has already been tested for its capability to destroy 60 mm mortars.

 

[Always Neutral]

Sir, please check the article which i posted, the last line is

Dear Nitesh,

The point that it destroyed a 60 MM MORTAR SHELL should be good enough to tell you that the naval version has not been tested.

Please see the delay in converting the LCA to Naval LCA and you will know that the naval variant is still years behind the land version.

Regards

 

[nitesh]

Dear Nitesh,

The point that it destroyed a 60 MM MORTAR SHELL should be good enough to tell you that the naval version has not been tested.

Please see the delay in converting the LCA to Naval LCA and you will know that the naval variant is still years behind the land version.

Regards

Why the LCA has to come in between. The point I am making is that your article says "it is about to be tested" and article posted by me says "it is tested". Now the article doesn't mentions when it is going to be deployed, only the offer has been made, whether the IN has evaluated and given recommendation for purchase and GoI has allowed it or not, so the point of delay doesn't appears. The point this article makes is that lasers are going to change the shape of battlefield in future.
Regards
Nitesh

 

[Keysersoze]

Dude I would take this as being another south asian media "hype" After all lets not forget the whole kitty hawk saga and also the F-35 hype when something was taken out of context by the journo, And then beaten to death on forums.