Laser pod could destroy bombs

[xoxoxoBruce]

Wednesday, August 22, 2007By SHELBY G. SPIRESTimes Aerospace Writer
Boeing developing vehicle-mounted device for Army
Army and Boeing Co. engineers hope Redstone Arsenal tests of a vehicle-mounted laser beam could one day help soldiers clear their path of dangerous roadside bombs, unexploded ordnance and enemy aerial vehicles. Boeing is developing a laser pod that can be mounted on its Avenger Agile Multi-Role Weapon System. The one-kilowatt, solid-state laser would be used to destroy explosives and possibly shoot down enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, said Phil Hillman, Boeing project manager for the Avenger program in Huntsville.

"The key goal is to use the laser to melt away the explosives and destroy the bomb or unexploded ordnance at a safe distance without setting it off like it was intended to do. That will keep damage down and keep troops and people in a safe" area, Hillman said during last week's Space & Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville.

Boeing already uses its 20-year-old Avenger system as the foundation for its Agile Multi-Role Weapon System, which is designed to allow U.S. forces the ability to use a variety of rockets, guided missiles and guns to tackle ground and air threats. The Army and Boeing have been testing those variants in combat in Iraq, and got feedback and opinions from combat troops who expressed a desire for a weapon that could be used to disable roadside bombs, said Debra Rub-Zenko, Boeing vice president for Integrated Missile Defense.
"We saw a way to use this platform in a different way and bring something more to" soldiers, Rub-Zenko said.

In addition to roadside bombs, Boeing engineers hope that the laser pod can be used to swat small enemy UAVs out of the sky, said Gary Fitzmire, Boeing vice president for directed-energy programs. "That's our plan for 2008," he said. Fitzmire said the laser still has to be tested and improved, and "the key area we want to test out and develop is shoot-on-the-move capabilities to strike the UAVs." The laser pod has to be stable so the advanced optics can be used to generate a beam to strike small aircraft such as UAVs.
For ground use, the laser system will be tested at Redstone beginning around the first of September, Fitzmire said.
Hillman said the system would be produced and integrated at Boeing's Huntsville JetPlex facility.

Star Wars becoming reality was inevitable. After all, people in DOA procurement saw it too.