Military engineers have proposed a new laser weapon concept with interchangeable magazines like a machine gun, only with charged batteries instead of bullets.
The military is convinced that it is unprofitable to use air defense systems against cheap unmanned aerial vehicles; To shoot down a drone worth $2,000, you need to launch a missile worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s why military engineers are developing laser weapons that are much cheaper to use. Additionally, the laser installation has sufficient electrical supply so it can be fired continuously.
However, modern high-energy lasers have a number of problems that prevent their use. And one of them is constant access to a powerful source of electricity. Constantly firing laser beams produces a lot of energy and heat, requiring large cooling systems.
Military engineers proposed an idea: a laser gun equipped with a kind of “store” analogue, but instead of shells in clips, batteries are charged. When one store runs out of charge, it can be quickly replaced with another. These “magazines” will limit the number of shots, but such a weapon does not require a large cooling system and eliminates reliance on a single large and bulky power supply.
According to the engineers’ plan, a shop will be able to power a laser installation with a power of 20 kW and operate at a wavelength of 1 micron. The weight of the laser will not exceed 9 kg since it will be cooled by air, not water. This is not a very powerful system compared to lasers whose power ranges from 50 to 300 kW. But the army also needs a compact laser weapon to shoot down small drones.
“Modern high-energy laser weapons operate on a limited cycle. They can be operated for a limited time, then the system remains in offline mode for a period of time while the batteries charge and the system cools. If successful, this project could revolutionize the use of lasers,” said Ian Boyd, director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado. “and it may allow lasers to be integrated into mobile platforms,” he said. Source
Source: Port Altele
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