By Michael Sirak
FT. WALTON BEACH, Fla.–The Air Force wants to move out more aggressively in the fielding of lasers and high-powered microwaves and, to support this, intends to increase markedly the amount of funding that it earmarks for them its program objective memorandum (POM) for FY ’10, the service’s top weapon’s buyer said here yesterday.
“You will see in FY ’10 and ’12,” said Sue Payton, the Air Force’s acquisition executive, there “will be much more investment in directed energy.”
Payton spoke Oct. 10 on the first day of the 33rd Air Armament Symposium that the National Defense Industrial Association is sponsoring along with the Air Force’s Air Armament Center that is headquartered at nearby Eglin AFB, Fla.
She said directed energy systems are coming under increased focus within the service.
“We are starting to grow the program elements…and we are starting to look at how we can garnish enough funding to move those programs out and really get them weaponized,” she said.
An example, Payton said, is the Active Denial System (ADS), a Raytheon [RTN]-built millimeter-wave capability. It is designed for mounting on vehicles or in a deployable fixed configuration for use in less-than-lethal roles to protect troops and facilities and control unruly crowds, especially in urban areas, where using kinetic weapons has the potential for causing inadvertent damage and unintended injury. ADS has been tested extensively and is considered mature technology, Air Force and industry officials have said.
“We want to get some out in the field,” Payton said of the ADS. “We want to show the compelling advantage, and so we are looking at some quick reaction deployment [options] and we are looking at building a POM that will support a future industrial base.”
The Air Force last year tasked AAC to establish a center of excellence for directed-energy products and transition these technologies to programs of record and fielded systems.
“Now the battle is to get back in the building and get the funding because, unless you are willing to write a check, you are not committed,” said Payton, referring to the forthcoming budget discussions that will take place in coming months within the walls of the Pentagon to establish the funding priorities for the Department of Defense’s FY ’10 budget request. “We are going to fight hard to get more funding for directed energy.”
Among the Air Force’s directed energy initiatives is the Boeing [BA]-built Advanced Tactical Laser, a high-power liquid laser system integrated on a C-130 for attacking ground objects in lethal and non-lethal roles. The modified C-130 is undergoing testing at Kirtland AFB, N.M.
Further, the AAC earlier this month issued a request for information on current high-power microwave technologies for potential applications in future weapon systems. The focus of interest is on capabilities that could be used as a “counter electronics payload that would not cause physical damage to buildings or harm to humans,” the center said in its Oct. 2 solicitation.
The Air Force’s FY ’10 POM, as well as the FY ’12 POM, will also be crucial in establishing the path ahead for weapon systems destined for use on the F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole fighter jet and the new bomber that the service intends to field in 2018, said Judy Stokley, the Air Force’s deputy program executive officer for Weapons and the AAC’s executive director, during her presentation here.