http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10150136-76.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Boeing is seeing a glimmer of progress in its work toward fielding laser weapons.

The defense industry giant on Monday said tests of its Laser Avenger system in December marked "the first time a combat vehicle has used a laser to shoot down a UAV," or unmanned aerial vehicle. In the testing, the Humvee-mounted Laser Avenger located and tracked three small UAVs in flight over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and knocked one of the drone aircraft out of the sky.

Boeing didn't go into much detail about the shoot-down. In response to a query by CNET News, it did say this much about the strike by the the kilowatt-class laser: "A hole was burned in a critical flight control element of the UAV, rendering the aircraft unflyable."

While decades of Hollywood imagery may conjure up a vision of a target disintegrating in a sparkle of light, the actual workings of the laser beam are probably more prosaic. For instance, the beam from Boeing's much, much larger Airborne Laser, which is intended to disable long-range missiles in flight, uses heat to create a weak spot on the skin of the missile, causing it to rupture in flight. Boeing hopes to conduct the first aerial shoot-down test with the much-delayed 747-based Airborne Laser later this year.

In tests in 2007, the Laser Avenger "neutralized" improvised explosive devices (IEDs) like those that have been a deadly threat in Iraq, along with other unexploded munitions.

Those types of targets don't move, so the ability to track and zap a small aircraft in flight is clearly a step forward for directed-energy weapons. But testing on a missile range is still a far cry from effective use on the battlefield, where military units may have to fire on the move against multiple targets approaching through cluttered airspace.
It's not clear how long the laser beam has to be locked on a target such as a UAV before it can cause sufficient damage, or how well the beam can be corrected to deal with dust and other atmospheric disturbances.

Here's how the targeting system works, according to the company (FLIR stands for "forward-looking infrared"):
The laser system is completely integrated to the existing, on-board wide field of view camera/FLIR systems and slew-to-cue fire control system of the Avenger turret. Once a target has been sighted, the laser system will "zoom in" on the target and use advanced UAV tracking algorithms to acquire and track the target even in heavy background clutter. Only after positive identification will it fire the high energy laser.

Boeing is pitching the Laser Avenger––and these are Boeing's own words––as a defense against UAVs "like those that increasingly threaten U.S. troops deployed in war zones." In the near term, of course, it's exactly the opposite––UAVs such as the Predator from General Atomics and Boeing's ScanEagle are a boon to U.S. troops and represent a distinct tactical advantage for U.S. forces against al-Qaeda and other foes. The MQ-1 Predator, in particular, has been very successful as both a reconnaissance tool and a weapons platform.

The Boeing-funded Laser Avenger is based on the existing Avenger platform, which carries more traditional "kinetic" weapons, including Stinger antiaircraft missiles and a .50-caliber machine gun.

I fail to see a need for anything .mil related now that Obama is in office. Hope and change will solve all our problems.

IBOCI


In Before Obama Cancels It

Yet another promising weapons system that will not survive the next four years

Amen

That's awesome, I didn't know they had anything small enough to fit on a truck.

great I wonder how much that uav cost us, I dont think anyone else has those except us correct? why make a laser to shoot one down.

The article says Boeing is funding the development of this weapon system, I imagine they paid for the UAV as well.

They work great to...atleast until it rains.

Plenty of other countries have UAVs.  The proliferation of small, cheap battlefield tactical models used at the squad/platoon/company level are expanding.  Once you can shoot down UAVs - then you can work on faster vehicles like cruise missiles etc.

We need to get ahead and stay ahead in this area.

Why do people insist on keeping/upgrading the Avenger?  

A single laser beam, even in the kilowatt range, seems like an inefficient weapon in many ways. Not the least of which is the large power requirement.
That said, they say they put a hole in a critical system. That's a pretty small target, and an even smaller weapon. Perhaps going for a shotgun approach? Use a spinning mirror like what's in a bar code reader, get a small spread on the outgoing fire. I guess it depends on if the laser is powerful enough to take it out with a short duration hit, or if it needs to be held on target for a second to burn through.

They wanted to make one to shoot down manned aircraft, but they couldn't find a volunteer to fly the target plane...

Be as many steps ahead of your enemy as possible?

Ask the Koreans how well a laser works against an ICBM during the lift-off stage.

I just thought there were guns that could track one of those things and shoot it down easier then building a laser, plus a gun would be alot smaller.

Man that's fucking awesome. I can't wait for man portable laser weapons.

Yep, and I'm sure no one else will ever build UAVs. Also, this test will have zero to do with scaling the laser up to use against warplanes.


Experimentation is teh stoopid!!!! lulz

+1.  We don't need this wanna be dictator having any more firepower than he already has.

We've been using drones for target practice since WW2.  Its not that expensive.

Remember the laser that all the metal gear REX and RAY have?


We need to figure out how to mount those to sharks.

Nice!

Hey Koreans: How well does a laser work against an ICBM during the lift-off stage?

vrewy wrell, thrank yu

reflective material under paint  =  counter measure

FUCK YA!  THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

At one time, we used to pour powder down the barrel, then a patch, then a round ball.  Good thing we started somewhere, or where would we be now?

It's the first fucking step into the future.

TXL