By Ann Roosevelt
Boeing [BA] and the Army yesterday announced they successfully completed a test in September in which a laser system mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle destroyed 50 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) similar to those used by adversaries in war zones.
“Improvised explosive devices continue to threaten U.S. troops deployed in war zones, and Laser Avenger provides the ultra-precision, stand-off capability our warfighters need today to safely neutralize those threats,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Missile Defense Systems’ Directed Energy Systems unit. “In addition, Laser Avenger’s versatility makes it useful in a wide range of battlefield conditions.”
The Army has been interested in the use of lasers and their development for some years. The Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Cobham— then Sparta– proved that laser weapons had military utility and could be successful with the Zeus-High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee) Laser Ordnance Neutralization System (ZEUS HLONS) system, which consisted of a solid-state laser system mounted on an armored AM General Humvee.
Though it never was produced, the Zeus-HLONS system was used for six months at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where it “engaged and neutralized over 200 pieces of unexploded ordnance,” and at one point setting “a record rate for ordnance disposal by neutralizing 51 pieces in less than 100 minutes” (Defense Daily, March 5, 2004).
During the Laser Avenger firings Sept. 22-24 at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., the system neutralized multiple types of IEDs, including large-caliber artillery munitions and smaller bomblets and mortar rounds.
The system operated at safe distances from the targets and under a variety of conditions, including different angles and ranges. Soldiers traveling with Laser Avenger would not have to get out of their armored vehicles or wait for an explosive ordnance disposal team to destroy an IED and continue their mission.
DoD’s Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) sponsored the test, which was conducted by Boeing and the Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space.
The test follows 2008 and 2009 demonstrations in which Laser Avenger shot down a small, unmanned aerial vehicle in each event, and a 2007 demonstration in which an earlier version of Laser Avenger destroyed five targets representing IEDs and unexploded ordnance (Defense Daily, Oct. 16, 2007).
“The system was upgraded after the 2007 tests,” a Boeing spokesman told Defense Daily. “We have doubled the laser power, developed a tracking capability that can provide shoot on the move, and increased the ruggedness and manufacturability.”
Boeing Directed Energy Systems and the Boeing Combat Systems Global Forces and Robotics Systems team in Huntsville 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. Laser Avenger is a Boeing-funded initiative to demonstrate that directed energy weapons are maturing and are relevant to today’s battlefield.
Boeing is developing laser systems for a variety of military applications, including the Airborne Laser, Free Electron Laser, High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator and Tactical Relay Mirror System.