Boeing ATL Advanced Tactical Laser

ALBUQUERQUE |The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] in May demonstrated the ability of mobile laser weapon systems to perform a unique mission: track and destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), which was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five UAVs at various ranges. Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative, also shot down a UAV. Representatives of the Air Force and Army observed the tests.

"The Air Force and Boeing achieved a directed-energy breakthrough with these tests," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems' Directed Energy Systems unit. "MATRIX's performance is especially noteworthy because it demonstrated unprecedented, ultra-precise and lethal acquisition, pointing and tracking at long ranges using relatively low laser power."

Bill Baker, chief scientist of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, praised his team and Boeing for these successful UAV shootdowns.

"These tests validate the use of directed energy to negate potential hostile threats against the homeland," Baker said. "The team effort of Boeing and the Air Force in developing MATRIX will pay major dividends for the warfighter now and in the years ahead."

As part of the overall counter-UAV demonstration, Boeing also successfully test-fired a lightweight 25mm machine gun from the Laser Avenger platform to potentially further the hybrid directed energy/kinetic energy capability against UAV threats.

Boeing Directed Energy Systems, based in Albuquerque, developed MATRIX, a mobile, trailer-mounted test bed that integrates with existing test-range radar. Directed Energy Systems and Boeing Combat Systems in St. Louis cooperatively developed Laser Avenger, which integrates a directed-energy weapon together with the existing kinetic weapons on the proven Avenger air defense system developed by Combat Systems.

Boeing leads the way in developing laser weapon systems for a variety of U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy applications. These systems include the Airborne Laser, Advanced Tactical Laser, Free Electron Laser, High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator and Tactical Relay Mirror System.

While Boeing and Northrop Grumman fight each other over the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling tanker contract, both companies boasted Friday about Thursday's laser shoot down of a boosting ballistic missile.
The test of the Airborne Laser Testbed marks the first time a laser has destroyed an in-flight ballistic missile and the first time that any system has destroyed a missile in the boost phase, Boeing said.

Here's a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

"The Airborne Laser Testbed team has made history with this experiment," Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, said in a news release. "We look forward to conducting additional research and development to explore what this unique directed-energy system can do."

Boeing is the prime contractor for the Airborne Laser Testbed, providing the modified Boeing 747-400 Freighter used for the laser, the battle management system and overall systems integration and testing. Northrop Grumman designed and built laser and Lockheed Martin developed the beam control/fire control system.

Northrop boasted in its news release: "While ballistic missiles like the one ALTB destroyed move at speeds of about 4,000 miles per hour, they are no match for a super-heated, high-energy laser beam racing towards it at 670 million mph."
It said the basketball-sized beam took just a few seconds to carve a stress fracture into the missile, causing it to split into multiple pieces.
"This experiment shows the incredible potential for directed energy as a premier element in early or ascent phase missile defense," Steve Hixson, Northrop vice president of Space and Directed Energy Systems, said in a news release. "The demonstration leaves no doubt whatsoever about ALTB's unprecedented mobility, precision and lethality."
ALTB has the highest-energy laser ever fired from an aircraft, and is the most powerful mobile laser device in the world. During the experiment, the aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base and destroyed the missile while flying over the Western Sea Range off the coast of California.

Michael Rinn, Boeing vice president and manager of the program, said:
"We've been saying for some time that the Airborne Laser Testbed would be a pathfinder for directed energy and would expand options for policymakers and warfighters. With this successful experiment, the Airborne Laser Testbed has blazed a path for a new generation of high-energy, ultra-precision weaponry. ALTB technology and future directed-energy platforms will transform how the United States defends itself and its friends and allies. Having the capability to precisely project force, in a measured way, at the speed of light, will save lives."