Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Under the High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) Phase II contract, awarded Aug. 15, Boeing will complete the design of, then build, test and evaluate, a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. Boeing also will develop the system-engineering requirements for the entire HEL TD laser weapon system.

By Noah Shachtman - (Danger Room)

The Army is moving ahead with plans to mount a laser cannon on a massive, 35-ton-plus truck.

The service just handed Boeing a $36 million contract to “continue developing a truck-mounted, high-energy laser weapon system that will destroy rockets, artillery shells and mortar rounds,” according to a company statement.

Low power demonstrations are scheduled for 2010, with battlefield-strength laser tests to follow in 2013.

About a year ago, the Army asked Boeing and Northrop Grumman to work up preliminary designs for the HEL beam control system — and promised to choose a winning model by 2009. So the program appears to be on track. And it’s one of a number of energy weapon projects that have been picking up steam, after decades of unfulfilled promise. Relatively easy-to-deploy electric lasers have just about worked their way up to weapons-grade. Boeing recently test-fired the real-life ray gun on its Advanced Tactical Laser — a blaster-equipped gunship. Raytheon has worked up a prototype of its Phalanx mortar-shooter that uses fiber lasers, instead of traditional ammo, to knock down targets. Even the eternally-delayed Airborne Laser — a modified 747, designed to zap ballistic missiles — may finally get a long-awaited flight test.

BACKGROUND:

A conceptual illustration, provided to Popular Mechanics by Boeing, of the truck-mounted High Energy Laser system tracking and firing at an incoming rocket, mortar or artillery round.

Laser Truck Inches Closer to Iraq Battlefield: Exclusive First Look

By Erik Sofge - (PM - July 22, 2008)

Looking up in Iraq is still a dangerous proposition. Mortar blasts continue to penetrate—with rare deadly force—the Green Zone and other protected areas because militias can find them, like rockets and other indirect-fire weapons, on the cheap, and fire them from shoot-and-hide platforms.

In an attempt to shore up its safe havens in the war zone, the Pentagon asked Boeing a year ago to develop a preliminary design for a system that could control a laser beam—but not just any laser beam. This one would come mounted on a truck that could defeat a persistent surprise threat from above. And this week the defense contractor delivered, bringing the Army one step closer to getting what can only be described as a laser truck—one capable of disabling incoming rounds.

Now, the Army must decide whether to award a more full-fledged development contract to Boeing, or to its preliminary design competitor, Northrop Grumman, for an actual High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD). For many years, the Army has tried—and largely failed—to develop weapons that target threats before they can reach ground troops, such as the Trophy Active Protection System, which would fire a shotgunlike blast of projectiles at incoming rocket-propelled grenades and antitank missiles. The hope is that lasers will be able to do what metal cannot.

Lasers are slowly overcoming their reputation as poor weapons. Sure, they’re great for directing airstrikes and finding the range of targets. But in recent years, Boeing and Northrop Grumman have emerged as key players in a growing military laser business, including the development of systems positioned near airfields or mounted on airplanes and—in another first look you saw right here—on Humvees. Some of the more high-profile programs include the Airborne Laser, which would disable missiles with a nose-mounted laser, and the Advanced Tactical Laser, an air-to-ground system mounted on a C-130 aircraft that Boeing says should be firing at ground level by the end of the year.

All of these bright-light programs face murky futures, and HEL TD is no exception. Even if the Pentagon immediately approves it for further development by one or both contractors, it could be years before a functioning laser truck reaches the battlefield.