Zitat:Scalable solid-state High Power Microwave weapon systems across air, sea and land. They’ve actually done demonstrations of land and air based capability so this is why these systems are moving faster. The 2022 deployment timeline matches the 50kW HEL solutions.

https://twitter.com/MIL_STD/status/1444282765818556429/photo/1

Zitat:"Leonidas is a counter-electronics system with the power and precision to disable multiple threats across a wide area or neutralize a single system in tight, crowded spaces. Leonidas Pod is a compact, versatile high-power microwave beam emitter." #HPM #GaN https://epirusinc.com/products

Leonidas has been developed by Epirus and is one of the first solid-state High Power Microwave systems, with GaN, and digital beamforming. The scalable system is being developed and matured by Epirius in partnership with Northrop Grumman.

Zitat:US Navy' USS Portland testing Laser Weapons System Demonstrator

According to information published by the U.S Navy on December 15, 2021, amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) conducted a high-energy laser weapon system demonstration while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. [...] During the demonstration, the Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation Laser Weapons System Demonstrator (LWSD) Mark 2 MOD 0 aboard Portland successfully engaged a static surface training target.

Portland previously tested the LWSD in May 2020 when it successfully disabled a small unmanned aerial system while operating in the Pacific Ocean. [...] The weapon, part of the Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) effort, is significantly more powerful than the 33 kW Laser Weapon System (LaWS) installed in 2014 aboard the now-decommissioned afloat forward staging base ship Ponce (AFSB 15).

The laser aboard Portland is installed forward in the ship in a trunk structure originally intended for a never-fitted vertical launch system. The LPD was selected because the ship had the space and weight capacity along with already-installed electrical cables to ease the laser installation. The SSL-TM laser is in a trainable mounting with a clear field of fire forward and to about 65 degrees abaft each beam.

Zitat:Israel announces successful laser tests

The Israeli Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) Directorate of Defense Research and Development announced (DDR&D) on 14 April the first successful series of live-fire tests using a high-power ground-based laser interception.

During the trial, which was conducted with the system's primer contractor Rafael, lasers destroyed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), mortars, rockets, and anti-tank missiles in flight, according to the MoD. It released video showing rockets, mortars, and a UAV being launched during the trial and infrared footage of them being destroyed in the air.

“About a month ago, we announced a full-scale development order to develop and produce a high-power laser defence system,” Minister of Defense Benny Gantz said in a statement. “Today marks the first time that a high-power, Israeli-made laser system successfully intercepted various targets, [...] a breakthrough on a global scale.”

Zitat:US Navy accelerates laser acquisition, HELIOS work advances

The US Navy (USN) proposed fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget requests of USD35.3 million for the Navy Laser Family of Systems (NLFoS), which is designated as “an accelerated acquisition initiative to provide near-term, ship-based laser weapon capabilities”, according to USN budget documents released on 14 April.

“The NLFoS efforts form the foundation of an incremental strategy for increased laser weapon capability as it is matured. NLFoS includes the Surface Navy Laser Weapon System (SNLWS) and the Solid-State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM),” the USN said in the documents. SNLWS addresses anti-surface warfare and counter-intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C-ISR) gaps with the ability to [...] destroy unmanned aerial systems (UASs) and defeat fast inshore attack craft (FIAC), the navy notes. SNLWS includes the development of an advanced prototype laser weapon system in the 60 kW or higher class.

Zitat:UK’s Dragonfire Laser Directed Energy Weapon Started Trials

Dragonfire, the UK’s Laser Directed Energy Programme (LDEW) led by MBDA, has successfully begun a series of trials to prove the accuracy and power of the novel laser weapon. [...]

The first of these trials recently conducted by the Dragonfire consortium – a joint industry and UK MOD collaboration between MBDA, Leonardo, QinetiQ and Dstl – at low power proved the system can successfully track air and sea targets with exceptionally high accuracy.

This success has paved the way for the next phase of the trials that will deliver a first for UK industry when carrying out a static high power laser trial, while maintaining aimpoint accuracy. The next step would then look to combine the outcomes of these two trials, pairing the recently proven tracking accuracy and the high power laser, by engaging targets in operationally representative scenarios. [...] This trial used a low power QinetiQ laser, Leonardo’s beam director and MBDAs Image Processing and Control technology to facilitate the ultra-precise “fine” pointing and tracking accuracy, which will be required to generate the damage effect when a high-powered laser will be used.

Other sub systems including the C2, Effector Management System (EMS) and “coarse” tracking – turning the laser towards the target – were also proved in the trial.