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High-Power Tactical Laser to Make Short Work of Future Threats to America

We live in a day and age when warfare and the technologies used for it change at a rapid pace. With a full-blown conflict taking place over in Europe, we’re seeing new and innovative hardware at work and how the old ways of waging war are no longer relevant.
Lockheed Martin HELSI rendering 6 photos
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Nowadays, drones, even small commercial ones, are used to wreak havoc on hardware that was until recently considered very hard to destroy, like the infamous Russian tanks. Although drones will probably continue to exist and be used effectively as offensive weapons, it’s probably lasers that’ll change the game completely in the near future.

Here in America, several defense contractors are presently developing lasers through various Department of Defense (DoD) programs. Lockheed Martin, for instance, has been, ever since 2019, part of something called High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI).

HELSI called for Lockheed to scale its existing spectral beam technology, pair it with a high-energy laser architecture, and come up with something that could effectively be used to counter some of the biggest future threats to America’s security.

This week, the company announced it delivered the weapon to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD). They call it a tactically-relevant electric laser, and it's operating in the 300 kW-class. The thing, the most powerful laser ever made by Lockheed, should be highly effective against artillery of any kind, rockets, UAVs, aircraft regardless of type, and who knows what else.

The OUSD is now expected to integrate the laser in something called Indirect Fires Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL), a demonstrator weapons system that should go into testing stage, both in the lab and in the field, by the end of this year.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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