Use of powerful combat lasers, placed on aircraft carriers, against enemy personnel and equipment
Use a megawatt-class laser on individual fighters?
Absurd! It's like shooting sparrows with a cannon!
And if you use such a laser against tank?
Even worse, there are currently no combat lasers that can burn through tank armor, and there are no plans for them to appear in the foreseeable future.
This means that the use of powerful combat lasers placed on aviation carriers, in terms of enemy manpower and equipment, it makes no sense? Should we disperse?
Let's not rush to conclusions. First, let's look at why lasers are used to destroy ground targets at all?
Positional impasse
Is it not enough that the Armed Forces (AF) have for the existing weapons to destroy ground targets – artillery, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), armored personnel carriers, small arms of all types, FPV-drones and so on, and so on?
It has long been no secret that the situation that has developed on the combat contact line (CCL) in the area of the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine is more reminiscent of the positional battles of the First World War (WWI) than the maneuverable combat operations of the Second World War (WWII).
LBS in Ukraine is shifting very slowly. Image opermap.mash.ru
The main means of disrupting the enemy's mechanized offensive have become kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), primarily numerous FPV drones, especially now that models with fiber optic control have appeared, which cannot be suppressed by electronic warfare (EW).
At the same time, the basis for the stability of the ground forces of the warring parties is the provision of supplies and rotation of personnel - without this, the defense begins to "fall apart". The supply problem cannot be solved with drones alone, not to mention the rotation of personnel.
If you look at the offensive being carried out by the Russian Armed Forces, you can see how difficult it is to cut off the supply routes even of those enemy strongholds or settlements occupied by the enemy that are already largely surrounded. If there is at least some road, even the smallest loophole, then the enemy will try to supply its fighters, ensuring their ability to resist, until the encirclement is closed.
The enclave captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region – despite its small size, it has not yet been possible to drive the enemy out of it.
This is a consequence of the inertia of reconnaissance and strike circuits, when the detected enemy cannot be attacked and destroyed in the same second. All types of destructive ammunition require time to approach the target - shells, rockets, mortar mines, FPV drones.
But a laser beam does not have such inertia – a detected target can be attacked immediately, instantly, at a speed of three hundred thousand (300) kilometers per second.
Why do we need an airborne laser?
Because of the curvature of the earth's surface, any ground laser will have a very limited range of operation against ground targets. Even if you raise the radiation source on some tower, for example, to a height of about 50 meters, the laser range will in any case be only 30 kilometers, which is significantly less than that of modern artillery systems, MLRS and UAVs of various types.
As for aircraft carriers, anti-aircraft missile systems with a range of about 100-180 kilometers can operate against them, that is, to ensure the safety of the carrier, it must operate from a range of about 200 kilometers or more.
The longest-range Ukrainian Patriot air defense system can operate against high-altitude air targets at a distance of about 100-180 kilometers
Megawatt-class laser will be able to engage targets from a safe distance
Is this even feasible?
To understand this, let's consider what types of targets we are going to attack with a laser.
Ground targets for laser weapons
So, we plan to use a combat laser against ground targets to isolate the combat zone. We consider disruption of the enemy's rotation and supply to be the main method of isolation.
Rotation and supply are most often carried out by wheeled transport moving on public roads, since other types of terrain can be mined by the enemy, and remotely. By the way, we previously considered one of the promising methods of remote mining in the material "Farming" on the Ka-52: operational laying of minefields from combat helicopters to isolate the combat zone.
Accordingly, our main target will be wheeled transport. Even if the enemy uses armored MRAPs, they all have vulnerable points - chassis, driver's cabin, radiator grille.
When exposed to powerful laser radiation, rubber tires will quickly become unusable, even if they are equipped with a RunFlat system, and an intense fire of tires is also possible - if they are not quickly extinguished, the car will burst into flames after them, burning tires have a very high calorific value.
Impact in the area of the engine radiator can cause it to overheat and fail, with corresponding consequences for the engine. However, here the enemy can start to apply protection, for example, by installing a sufficiently thick steel sheet at a distance of half a meter from the radiator.
As for the driver's cabin, everything is quite sad here - the impact of powerful laser radiation on open areas of the body will instantly cause fourth-degree burns and death from pain shock, and it is possible that the radiation power will also cause damage to internal organs.
Is there any way to protect yourself from this?
You can try, for example, by completely removing the glass and driving using the image received from external video cameras. However, this will only be a delay - you can implement the laser operating mode in the "scanning" mode, when it will scan the target several times, sequentially passing over its surface, as a result of which all cameras will be destroyed or damaged, and further movement will become impossible.
MRAP and its areas vulnerable to high-power laser radiation
Stopped vehicles can be subjected to additional laser irradiation in order to ensure their ignition, and dismounted enemy soldiers can also be attacked - with sufficiently effective guidance systems, they have virtually no chance of escaping.
By the way, laser radiation can also be used to attack highly protected tracked vehicles. Firstly, the same driver observation devices, and secondly, any points where it is possible to cause a fire or overheating.
Creating fire sources is a universal method of combating any ground combat equipment. It is extremely difficult to make sure that any machine does not have flammable components - paint, rubber seals, plastic, wiring sheaths and much more.
Car owners know how quickly a car can burn out in the event of any, even the most minor, fire, due to some internal causes - damaged wiring, oil leakage or some types of antifreeze. What can we say about when a high-power laser beam "searches" the car body, looking for any potential sources of fire.
It is practically impossible to protect foot soldiers from powerful laser weapons.
The question is that in order to work on ground targets, they must first be detected.
Eagle's eye
As always, one man is no warrior. The aircraft carrying the laser weapon must operate within the framework of a single reconnaissance and strike circuit (RUK), however, this does not eliminate the need to install highly effective reconnaissance equipment on it.
Essentially, we face two main tasks:
- primary detection of the enemy;
- additional search and targeting of the laser beam at the enemy.
Accordingly, the initial detection of the enemy can be carried out by fighters, as well as by tactical-class reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with subsequent transmission of the coordinates and direction of movement of the enemy.
It should be noted here that the ability to work on the enemy with a laser does not at all exclude the need to use other available means of destruction. As always, the question lies in the plane of expediency and effectiveness, and first of all in which of the available weapons can be used faster.
It can be assumed that one of the most effective methods of primary detection of the enemy could be the Tu-214R integrated radio-technical and optical reconnaissance aircraft.
Integrated electronic and optical reconnaissance aircraft Tu-214R
We have been talking about the feasibility of using these machines since the very beginning of the SVO; the first mentions of Tu-214R aircraft being used in the SVO zone appeared approximately seven months after its beginning, which we discussed in the article "Tu-214R" in a special military operation in Ukraine: less than a year has passedThere was no further information about the use of these aircraft, either they did not justify themselves, or everything was very secret.
Of course, everything here depends on the effectiveness of the Tu-214R side-view radar, or more precisely, on its ability to detect enemy transport at a distance of about 200-250 kilometers. If this is possible, then the Tu-214R aircraft will be able to effectively operate in conjunction with aircraft carrying laser weapons, even without guidance from the ground or from UAVs.
Another option is to place suspended containers with side-looking radars directly on the aircraft themselves - carriers of laser weapons. It seems that we have such containers - these are containers of the "Sych" family, in particular, the side-looking radar is installed in the "UKR-RL" container. Again, here everything depends on the operating range and resolution of the said container.
Sych family containers on the M-55 Geofizika high-altitude aircraft
Of course, one might assume that a separate aircraft with a powerful radar and qualified operators on board would be preferable.
But the additional search and guidance of the laser beam can only be carried out directly from the aircraft - the carrier of the laser weapon. For this, a powerful unique optical-electronic system (OES) must be placed on it, comparable in characteristics to those installed on optical reconnaissance satellites.
Modern optical reconnaissance satellites equipped with meter-diameter lenses are capable of obtaining an image of the earth's surface with a resolution of several tens of centimeters from an orbit at an altitude of about a thousand kilometers. Accordingly, a similar OES placed on an airplane will be able to obtain an image with a resolution of several centimeters from a distance of several hundred kilometers, which will allow for highly efficient target identification and laser beam guidance to their vulnerable zones.
Optical reconnaissance satellite "Yantar-2K"
Considering the expected dimensions of the optical system of such an OES, it will be placed inside the fuselage with windows on each side, that is, observation and guidance will be carried out perpendicular to the direction of the aircraft's flight, on the pass. Accordingly, combat work will also be carried out - the aircraft carrying the laser weapon will draw "eights", working alternately with the right and left sides.
As is already clear from the dimensions of the optics, a transport aircraft will act as a carrier; in addition, a laser placed on an aircraft carrier, which can operate at a range of several hundred kilometers, must have the necessary power for this, which also determines the choice of a transport aircraft as a carrier.
What power should a laser have to be able to operate on ground targets from a distance of several hundred kilometers?
Megawatt class
Yes, to hit ground targets at a range of several hundred kilometers, a laser with a power of about one megawatt (MW) or more will most likely be required; we recently looked at the prospects of this direction in the article “Airborne Megawatt-Class Combat Lasers: Who Will Be First – the US or Russia?? '.
The American air-based laser system Boeing YAL-1 with an expected laser power of up to 14 MW was supposed to ensure the destruction of launching ballistic missiles at a range of 500-600 kilometers, but, having an actual power of about 1 MW, ensured the destruction of training targets at a range of about 100-250 kilometers.
Boeing YAL-1
Even though the targets were training, they were still high-speed, accelerating targets, cooled by the oncoming air flow, possibly rotating.
According to open data, by using adaptive optics, the Americans managed to focus a combat laser beam to the size of a basketball at a range of 250 kilometers. The diameter of a basketball is 25,4 centimeters, that is, for a laser with a power of 1 MW, the specific power will be about 6 kilowatts (kW) per square centimeter (cm2).
As a result of losses in the atmosphere, the actual power will be lower, but even with a twofold decrease, one can imagine the result of even a short-term impact of radiation with a specific power of 3 kW per cm2 and a total power of about half a megawatt on military equipment or the human body.
Conclusions
The use of megawatt-class combat lasers, placed on aircraft carriers, against ground targets will ensure the isolation of the combat zone by disrupting the rotation and supply of the enemy.
The use of such weapons will have a monstrous psychological effect, causing the enemy to abandon their positions or surrender.
When in the kill zone of such a laser complex, the enemy will be able to provide rotation and supply only in very bad weather conditions, and the main problem will not be the drop in the power of the laser beam, but its precise guidance using high-resolution OES from on board the carrier aircraft.
Of course, the enemy will try to counteract laser weapons, for example, by hiding behind smoke, but this in itself will significantly slow down its speed of movement and make it vulnerable to other means of destruction, such as MLRS or barrel artillery, and will increase the likelihood of leaving the route or ending up in minefields.
It is possible that the main obstacle to the creation of megawatt-class laser weapons on aircraft carriers is the author’s excessive optimism about our achievements in this direction; otherwise, everything presented in this material is entirely feasible.
Image from the patent of a promising Russian aircraft carrying laser weapons
Surely someone can say that the use of high-power laser weapons is inhumane, especially against enemy manpower?
Well, tell about humanism to the residents of Kursk Oblast, who were buried alive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in Sudzha, or to the women and girls who were raped and brutally murdered by mercenaries and Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in Kursk Oblast, and in other regions where our enemies have been. Or maybe it is humane to use thermobaric munitions against the enemy or to scatter burning thermite mixtures on positions?
War is not about humanism, but about efficiency and expediency. There is no doubt that the enemy would immediately use such a weapon against us if he had it.
A megawatt-class laser on an aircraft carrier as part of a reconnaissance and strike contour could potentially ensure a breakthrough of the enemy's defense at any point where it appears. Just as Ukraine now freezes at the takeoff of carriers of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in anticipation of an inevitable and irresistible strike, the very information about the appearance of a combat laser operating on ground targets in one or another section of the LBS will lead to the collapse of the enemy's defense.
It is unlikely that such a weapon will be created before the end of the Second World War, but there is no doubt that we will definitely need it in future wars and armed conflicts.
Information