Enemy aircraft can be shot down by a laser
At the Farnborough International Airshow, a new product was presented that brought back memories of the sci-fi action films of the 80s. American arms manufacturers showed a video in which the plane-UAV are shot down with a laser beam.
Experiments with laser systems were carried out before, but now for the first time it was possible to hit the target in motion. This allows us to hope that the new technology is on the verge of mass use. Details - Yevgeny Zubkov. Reporting NTV.
This seemingly nondescript black and white video is evidence of a breakthrough in the military industry. For the first time, a laser beam was able to destroy not a static, but a moving surface target. A beam of light power 32 kilowatts struck the unmanned aircraft.
Shot off the coast of California, from the deck of the US Navy. After an accurate hit from a distance of three kilometers, the drone caught fire and crashed into the ocean. Total 35 seconds video - but what an effect!
At the International Air Show in Farnborough, everyone is delighted. The demonstration was held by the American company Raytheon, it specializes in the development of new high-tech weapons. Its experts admitted that they had shot down four aerial targets with a laser. Shooting was carried out in May and June.
Americans experienced combat laser systems before, but all of them are still rather cumbersome, and the efficiency of their work is not too great. Although Boeing was actively promoting its 747 – 400-F aircraft with a laser system on board last year. But no one has yet seen him in action. Limited to computer animation and big words.
Rick Garcia, project manager for Boeing AirBorne Laser: “The plane is capable of hitting targets hundreds of kilometers away. A machine with such a laser system can patrol the territories of friendly states and shoot down enemy vehicles. ”
By the way, the Pentagon refused to buy such Boeings, having doubted their effectiveness in real combat. Compact samples of laser weapons yet, in any case, no one officially says about it. Although this idea has been raving for a long time, and not only science fiction.
In the US, this topic has emerged particularly vividly back in 80, under Ronald Reagan. The Cold War forced him to proclaim SDI - the Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as "Star Wars" (by analogy with the eponymous Hollywood saga).
It was planned to shoot down Soviet satellites and ballistic missiles using combat space stations. missiles. But the program gradually stalled, revealing a host of problems. And now the American defense industry seems to have reached a new stage of development. Reports on testing new laser products are increasingly appearing in the media. And the leadership in this area, at least in terms of information, is with America.
Although Russia, according to rumors, is not far behind in the development of heat guns. It is known that Soviet scientists took up their creation in the mid-50s. Until the 90s, tests were carried out at a training ground in Kazakhstan. And now, the Russian military has focused on the production of a combat laser for aviation.
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