Boeing Laser System Redeploys Quickly, Then Tracks Targets and Fires Laser – Press Release

March 24, 2009 by Matthew Potter · Comment
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Events, Press Releases, Services, U.S. Army, development program, missile defense

Boeing Laser System Redeploys Quickly, Then Tracks Targets and Fires Laser

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., March 24, 2009 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] has successfully demonstrated its Re-Deployable High-Energy Laser System (RHELS) by quickly relocating the prototype weapon system from its Albuquerque development site to a test range, where it tracked ground and airborne targets and fired at a ground target. RHELS integrates a solid-state, thin-disk laser; an acquisition, pointing and tracking capability; beam control, fire control and thermal management systems; and a weapons operator console into a modified 40-foot-long shipping container transportable on a semitrailer.

Boeing began the two-week-long test Feb. 23 by packing up RHELS at its Albuquerque facility, moving it to a local government facility in Albuquerque and setting it up there, all in only a few hours. With the
system status re-established, RHELS then tracked in-flight aircraft and moving and stationary ground vehicles, and successfully fired its laser, hitting a remote target board on the ground. Due to test-range restrictions, the system did not fire at moving targets.

“RHELS demonstrates that a solid-state, high-energy laser weapon system can be transportable, rugged, supportable and affordable,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems. “RHELS drives tactical directed-energy laser systems out of the laboratory and into the hands of the warfighter. Its transportability
also means developers and warfighters have the opportunity to test this transformational, ultra-precision directed-energy weapon system at a number of ranges under varying conditions and against a diverse set of targets.”

In future tests, RHELS will fire its laser at in-flight targets and moving ground vehicles. RHELS is designed to engage rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) projectiles, shoulder-fired missiles and unmanned aircraft, as well as a variety of ground-mobile tactical targets. RHELS is a Boeing-funded initiative to show that directed energy weapons are maturing and are relevant to today’s battlefield. It also provides key lessons for the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD),
a truck-mounted, high-energy laser, counter-RAM weapon system that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Army.
“RHELS reduces risk for HEL TD in a controlled but realistic setting,” said Lee Gutheinz, Boeing program director for High-Energy Laser/Electro-Optical Systems. “It confirms the functionality of a compact, reliable and highly efficient laser system while maintaining future scalability to many tens of kilowatts of laser power.”

Boeing leads the way in developing high-energy laser systems for a variety of warfighter applications. These systems include Airborne Laser, Advanced Tactical Laser, HEL TD, Laser Avenger and the Tactical Relay Mirror System.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

Tags: airborne targets, beam control, directed energy, energy laser, flight aircraft, government facility, ground target, ground vehicles, laser weapon, moving targets, range restrictions, rocket artillery, semitrailer, shipping container, tactical targets, target board, thermal management systems, thin disk, transportability, weapon system

Boeing Laser Avenger Shoots Down Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Tests – Press Release

January 26, 2009 by Matthew Potter · Comment
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Press Releases, Services, U.S. Army, development program, missile defense

Boeing Laser Avenger Shoots Down Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Tests
Jan. 26, 2009 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has successfully
demonstrated that a laser system mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle
can shoot down a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) like those that
increasingly threaten U.S. troops deployed in war zones.
During tests last month at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Laser
Avenger achieved its principal test objectives by using its advanced
targeting system to acquire and track three small UAVs flying against a
complex background of mountains and desert. The laser system also shot
down one of the UAVs from an operationally relevant range. These tests
mark the first time a combat vehicle has used a laser to shoot down a
UAV.

Representatives of the U.S. Army’s Cruise Missile Defense Systems
project office observed the tests.

“Small UAVs armed with explosives or equipped with surveillance sensors
are a growing threat on the battlefield,” said Gary Fitzmire, vice
president and program director of Boeing Directed Energy Systems. “Laser
Avenger, unlike a conventional weapon, can fire its laser beam without
creating missile exhaust or gun flashes that would reveal its position.
As a result, Laser Avenger can neutralize these UAV threats while
keeping our troops safe.”

The tests follow a 2007 demonstration in which an earlier version of
Laser Avenger neutralized improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and
unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the ground.

“We doubled the laser power; added sophisticated acquisition, tracking
and pointing capability; and simplified and ruggedized the design,” said
Lee Gutheinz, Boeing program director for High-Energy
Laser/Electro-Optical Systems. “Boeing developed and integrated these
upgrades in less than a year, underscoring our ability to rapidly
respond to warfighters’ needs.”

Laser Avenger integrates a directed energy weapon together with the
kinetic weapons on the proven Avenger air defense system developed by
Boeing Combat Systems in Huntsville, Ala. It is a Boeing-funded
initiative to demonstrate that directed energy weapons are maturing and
are relevant to today’s battlefield.

Boeing leads the way in developing laser systems for a variety of U.S.
Air Force and Army warfighter applications. These systems include the
Airborne Laser, the Advanced Tactical Laser, the High Energy Laser
Technology Demonstrator and the Tactical Relay Mirror System.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
is one of the world’s largest space and defense
businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer
solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of
military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems is a $32.1 billion business with 71,000 employees worldwide.

Contact Info:
Marc Selinger
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
(703) 414-6138
marc.selinger@boeing.com
Chuck Cadena
Boeing Missile Defense Systems
(703) 872-4503
chuck.cadena@boeing.com

Tags: boeing company, boeing program, combat vehicle, cruise missile defense, directed energy, electro optical systems, energy laser, gutheinz, huntsville ala, laser power, missile defense systems, relevant range, surveillance sensors, targeting system, test objectives, u s army, unmanned aerial vehicle, uxo, white sands missile, white sands missile range