- Complete live fire tests against rocket and mortar fly-outs to demonstrate lethal laser power at mission-relevant ranges.
- Transport demonstrator laser from Army mission (rocket/mortar) relevant ground test site to mountain peak test site to mimic Air Force missions for precision air-to-ground and airborne self-defense demonstrations.
General Atomics has a new third generation combat laser. The technology was originally developed under the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS, Gen 1) program. The Gen 3 Laser employs a number of upgrades resulting in improved beam quality, increased electrical to optical efficiency, and reduced size and weight. The recently certified Gen 3 laser assembly is very compact at only 1.3 x 0.4 x 0.5 meters. The system is powered by a compact Lithium-ion battery supply designed to demonstrate a deployable architecture for tactical platforms.General Atomics: Third-Gen Electric Laser Weapon Now Ready | Technology content from Aviation Week
The Gen 3 HEL tested is a unit cell for the Tactical Laser Weapon Module (TLWM) currently under development. Featuring a flexible, deployable architecture, the TLWM is designed for use on land, sea, and airborne platforms and will be available in four versions at the 50, 75, 150, and 300 kilowatt laser output levels.
While fashions in high-energy lasers have changed as technology progresses, from gas to diode and now fiber, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has stayed its course over more than a decade and believes its third generation of electric laser weapon is ready for prime time. The company has responded to an Office of Naval Research (ONR) solicitation for a 150-kw laser weapon suitable for installation on DDG-51-class destroyers to counter unmanned aircraft and small boats.
Solid State, High Power Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) Design, Development and Demonstration for Surface Navy, USN - ONRBAA15-0005 (Archived) - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities
The Pentagon Plans To Test More Airborne Laser Weapons As Soon As Next Year | Popular Science
The 150-kilowatt lasers DARPA is considering testing as part of its High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS) program are ten times smaller and lighter than even those of similar power today--which means some kind of technology leap is in the offing that DARPA thinks is realistic. The Agency has contracted General Atomics (makers of the Reaper and Predator drones) to have two laser weapons ready to go by 2014 so both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy can try them out.
The USAF's interest in this technology is pretty clear-cut. Mounted on a fighter jet or bomber, these scaled down 150-kilowatt lasers would be capable of shooting down air-to-air missiles or surface-to-air rockets that normally might deny access to airspace or endanger pilots infiltrating enemy territory. For the Navy's air wing the same is true, but its interest also likely extends to close-in ship defense operations as well.
Over the past four years, the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA) has given contractor General Atomics over $60 million to develop and then scale HELLADS – a powerful 150 kW ray with a difference.
Current lasers of that strength – enough to destroy an incoming rocket or plane – are bulky, which means they can only be placed on stationary defense systems.
HELLADS, which DARPA says is in the “final development stage,” is radically lighter. It will weigh only 750 kilograms – less than a very small car.
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| HELLADS Predator C Mounting Concept |
General Atomics Claims Laser Weapon Advance | Defense content from Aviation Week
General Atomics claims laser breakthroughGeneral Atomics (GA) has completed laboratory tests of what it calls its “third-generation laser system,” saying that the weapon sets new standards in efficiency, beam quality and system weight. According to an industry source, the company says the new laser will deliver 150 kw of energy, with three times higher beam quality than the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) now being tested by the U.S. Navy on the amphibious warfare ship Ponce, and will be able to fire 10 shots between ...
| 27 Jun 2011 |
The US Department of Defense has awarded General Atomics’ Aeronautical Systems division a $39.8 million contract to further develop a high-power laser weapon, with the ultimate goal of integrating the system within tactical aircraft. The High-Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense Systems (HELLADS) program has been under development through funding from the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for several years, and now appears close to reaching its target output of 150 kW.
According to DARPA’s fiscal year 2012 budget estimate document, the detailed design of a ground-based 150 kW demonstrator was completed last year, while two unit cell module designs have shown an output power exceeding 34 kW. Based on those unit cell results, the next key step is to produce additional laser modules and connect them to deliver the targeted 150 kW output. Under the latest contract award, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will aim to complete the 150 kW design, along with battery and thermal management systems, mostly at its Poway, California, headquarters. Significant chunks of the project work will also be completed in Tucson, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to the DoD’s brief announcement.
One of the key requirements of the HELLADS system is to dramatically reduce the weight of typical high-energy laser weapons, and the eventual goal is for the 150 kW system to weigh no more than 750 kg. That would represent an order-of-magnitude reduction compared with existing chemical laser systems that, while effective, are considered too bulky and awkward for any kind of mobile deployment.
GA-ASI Awarded Contract for Hellads Weapon System Demonstrator
High-Power Laser Weapon Ultimately to be Incorporated into Tactical Aircraft
SAN DIEGO – 19 July 2011 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), a leading manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), tactical reconnaissance radars, and electro-optic surveillance systems, today announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently awarded the company a contract for development of the complete Demonstrator Laser Weapon System (DLWS) for the agency's High Energy Liquid Laser Defense System (HELLADS) program. The contract award follows the successful development and test of the company's HELLADS weapon class unit cell under a previous contract.
"In 2001, GA-ASI pioneered a new concept for electrically-pumped, high energy lasers, and under DARPA sponsorship this technology has developed into a promising new weapon class capable of being deployed on a wide variety of land, sea, and airborne tactical platforms," said Dr. Michael Perry, vice president, Reconnaissance Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. "Under this new contract, we will produce a 150-kilowatt HELLADS weapon system that will be demonstrated against a variety of military targets."
The HELLADS laser concept employs an innovative new approach to electric lasers which combines the high storage density of solid-state with the efficient heat removal of flowing liquids. The HELLADS program seeks to demonstrate a 150-kilowatt laser weapon that weighs less than 2,000 pounds and could be mounted to military platforms as small as patrol ships, fighter and surveillance aircraft, armored combat vehicles, and perhaps even UAS. In addition to the laser itself, GA-ASI completed prototype power and heat removal systems last year, confirming that the supporting technologies are in place for a complete weapon system.
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