The grand opening of Northrop Grumman's new production facility for solid-state military lasers last week was touted as the beginning of an age when high-powered lasers will do the work of many of the tactical missiles the United States currently must haul around as it carries out campaigns in far-flung locales.
Long relegated to the realm of science fiction, lasers have quietly moved to the brink of becoming a reality at the front-line level where they could conceivably offer troops unprecedented protection at a relatively low cost that Congress might find hard to resist.
"These systems will shoot down rockets, mortars and short-range missiles and will become critical elements of land, sea and airborne platforms," Mike McVey, president of Northrop's Directed Energy Systems division, said on a recent conference call with reporters.
"Laser weapons are really now moving from the laboratory to the battlefield," he added. "And this facility is part of our long-term commitment to brining high-powered lasers to the warfighter."
Just this week, Raytheon reported it had successfully integrated a solid-state laser with the Phalanx system that locks on to anti-ship missiles and blows them apart with a rapid-fire Gatling gun. In a recent static test, the Phalanx-based Laser Area Defense System (LADS) detonated 60-millimeter mortar rounds placed some 550 yards downrange.
"Our solid-state LADS proves you don't have to wait another three-to-five years for solid-state lasers to have military utility on the battlefield," cheered Raytheon Missile Systems Vice-President Mike Booen. "They are ready now."
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