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US and Israel Demonstrate
Laser Anti-Missile Weapon
The 21-23 May 1996 "How to Fight" symposium, sponsored by the Association of the
United States Army (AUSA) in cooperation with the Army's Training and Doctrine Command
(TRADOC), included an unusual hardware display. Sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the
San Jose Convention Center was a charred and deformed hunk of metal cylinder. Upon
closer examination, it was learned the debris was the result of the first ever shoot-down of a
short range rocket by a laser weapon system.
Under a joint program known as NAUTILUS, the US Army and the Israeli Ministry of
Defence (IMOD) recently demonstrated the capabilities of laser weapon systems against the
type of terrorist rocket threat facing Israel on a continuing basis. The prime contractor for
the Army's NAUTILUS activity is TRW Space and Electronics Group. They lead a team that
includes engineers from the US Army Space & Strategic Defense Command, IMOD, W.J.
Shafer Associates and the Israeli aerospace companies Rafael, Israel Aircraft Industries and
Tadiran.
The US military has been exploring the defense applications of high power lasers for many
years and TRW has been involved with the development of high energy laser systems since
the early 1970s.
A few years ago, TRW proposed a concept known as the General ARea Defense Integrated
ANti-missile (GARDIAN), which would utilize a high energy chemical laser to protect
military assets against low flying tactical threats, including both cruise missiles and
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The GARDIAN concept was based on the mature chemical laser technology initially proven
for the US Navy's Mid-infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL) program during the
1980s. MIRACL utilizes a megawatt-class deuterium fluoride (DF) laser design in which a
chemical reaction between deuterium and fluoride is used to generate a laser beam. In
operational concept, a beam director is used to focus the laser beam on a moving target,
creating a small spot of immense heat that "burns through" the target itself.
The GARDIAN concept promised to be effective at ranges up to 10 km as a complement to
intermediate and long range air defense missile systems. When compared to short range
missile defense, GARDIAN proponents claimed advantages in response times ("typically 1
second"), higher firing rates ("up to 50 shots per minute") and lower costs per target kill
("estimated at $1000 per shot").
Most recently, the same MIRACL technology has been proven effective against the modern
day threat of short range rocket attack.
On 9 February 1996, the joint US Army/IMOD NAUTILUS program conducted the first-ever
shoot-down of a short-range rocket by a laser weapon system. The test was conducted by the
MIRACL laser system at the Army's High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) at
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Most significantly, as a result of that success, the
US and Israel have just signed a "statement of intent" to begin joint development of a
Tactical High Energy Laser/Rapid Acquisition Demonstrator (THEL/RAD) system.
Eye On The Mideast
Page 2
According to TRW company literature, the February 1996 firing test demon- strated "laser
technology and related beam pointing and tracking technologies now offer the US and its
allies a viable solution for defeating cheap, short-range rockets that have become the
weapons of choice for terrorist organizations and other warring factions around the globe."
During the test, an operational short-range rocket was fired from a mobile ground launcher
at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). The rocket was initially detected by range radar,
then passed off to an optical tracking system called a Sea Lite Beam Director. The beam
director, which is integrated to MIRACL at HELSTF, "locked-on" and illuminated the target
with the laser beam. The laser's heat detonated the rocket's warhead within seconds, causing
the remaining rocket material to fall to earth.
The Sea Lite Beam Director was built by Hughes Aircraft Company for the US Navy. In
addition to the capability to operate as a high precision pointer-tracker system, the infrared
optics on the beam director can record missile data for testing conducted at WSMR.
TRW literature quotes NAUTILUS program manager Josef Shwartz as saying, "The result
was exactly as we had predicted. The US government has been testing and investing in a
greater understanding of the MIRACL laser since 1980. This test was a big payoff for that
investment. We now have the potential to deal with cheap, short-range rockets and other
airborne threats favored by terrorist groups around the world."
He cited a number of factors as contributors to the success of NAUTILUS. For example,
since 1983 TRW has been conducting studies at HELSTF to test the megawatt-class MIRACL
laser against an airborne target array that included both UAVs and flying drones to simulate
cruise missiles. Tracking and guidance were enhanced through the use of a new software
algorithm that allows the Sea Lite Beam Director to track a small target like the rocket and to
hold the laser beam on it long enough to destroy it. Finally, the NAUTILUS team developed
a test plan which highlighted the difficulties posed by this type of live in-bound rocket
threat.
US funding for the NAUTILUS program was $2.5 million in FY95. The Israeli government
contributed $600,000, along with test targets, a launch vehicle and launch crew. US FY96
funding was $5 million with Israeli funding of $800,000 during the same period.
According to sources at the US Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (USASSDC),
"More testing is planned against other targets, including general purpose bombs. Integrated
system tests are also being planned against multiple targets and using standard Army
detection systems and communication hardware. In parallel with the NAUTILUS laser
effectiveness demonstration project, it would be timely to start a tactical laser weapon
system development program."
US and Israeli government interest in this type of program reportedly has increased
dramatically since the February shootdown. The culmination of this interest occurred on
Sunday, 28 April 1996, when Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and US Defense
Secretary William Perry signed a "statement of intent" for the United States and Israel to
begin joint development of THEL/RAD system.
Eye On The Mideast
Page 3
Although a recent USASSDC program description questions the availability of US program
funding for FY97 and beyond, industry estimates are that such a laser demonstration system
could be in the field in "less than two years, followed quickly by an operational system."
Two developmental areas that would contribute to refinement of the THEL/RAD
demonstrator are laser power and optics. Industry sources identified demonstrated
"breakthroughs" in both of these areas that will allow high-powered DF lasers to be
packaged in smaller, cheaper and more mobile configurations. For example, the development
of uncooled mirrors and optics allowed shrinking system size, reducing component weight
and eliminating the large and often expensive water cooling systems required for earlier
generations of laser optics.
However, a USASSDC data sheet stresses "only a small fraction of the MIRACL laser power
was used for the February test. . . The power used corresponds to the power that could be
produced by a truck-mounted compact and mobile tactical laser system which could be
fielded using strictly existing and demonstrated laser technologies."
High powered laser systems would not only provide US contingency forces with a way to
protect themselves against short-range tactical threats, but such a system also could be used
as one option for Israel to protect its citizens against attack by Katyusha rockets fired from
outside the country.
SCOTT R. GOURLEY, a former US Army officer, is a veteran aerospace and defense
journalist whose credits include Jane's Defence Weekly, Popular Mechanics, International
Defense Review, Armed Forces Journal and a number of travel magazines. He is considered
one of the leading experts in coverage of US special operations forces.
got this (WOAA)Defense Web