Military solid-state laser sets new records!
Northrop Grumman Company invented the most powerful and reliable military solid-state laser.
The company was the first one to reach a beam capacity of 100 kW, displaying a military solid-state laser in 2009. Nowadays there is intensive work on a laser gun project within the JHPSSL program.
Recently they have managed to make a next step forward: JHPSSL has been working for over six hours at the capacity of more than 100 kW. That happened during the test shooting in the course of the tracking and guidance system integration before the field tests.
The military laser looks different from a terrible weapon, but its killer beam will dramatically change a battlefield
"We do not know any other solid-state laser of a similar capacity which could give out a continuous beam for more than several seconds, - Northrop Airspace Division Vice President Steve Hixson said. – Thus the six hours of continuous operation exclude the laser low power work to keep current maintenance. Such productivity and reliability have no parallels among high-energy lasers. JHPSSL is simply radiating, radiating and radiating".
"Northrop Grumman has created a gold standard for powerful solid-state lasers, - the USA Department of Defense Director for High-Energy Lasers Technology Mark Neice says. - JHPSSL shows an entire range of necessary qualities, and the success of the last 18 months has remained unsurpassed and the most advanced in the world".
Now Northrop Grumman is preparing JHPSSL to move from the company's factory on Redondo Beach, Califirnia to the White Sands specialized high-energy lasers (HELSTF) testing area, where the newest power weapon will undergo a full cycle of field tests. First of all, JHPSSL will get integrated with the current buch control system at the USA army lasers test unit. During the tests there will be gathered all necessary information to design a perfect fire control system for the military laser future installation on a portable land-based platform.
JHPSSL success shows that the army can get equipped with the laser weapon in the near terms. The Boeing company is as well extensively advancing its development. The company started assembling a laser gun and integrating the fire control system.
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