According to Task and Purpose, the Army will deploy a platoon of laser-armed combat vehicles in January 2023. Originally scheduled for delivery in October 2022, this platoon was postponed as a result of supplementary inspections conducted to verify the system’s complete functionality upon its arrival. Conducting testing is an essential preliminary measure in the development of a highly protective instrument that can be deployed by the Army to engage in combat with mortars and drones.
The Army currently employs Stryker vehicles in combat. These eight-wheeled, armored vehicles have the capacity to carry nine personnel and are equipped with light weapon turrets. The light weapons utilized by the laser-armed Strykers are literally light; they rapidly consume hоstile targets using the heat of photons (also known as directed energy).
Stryker platoons are composed of four vehicles, each of which is manned by a squad of infantry, a commander, and a pilot. Roughly 44 individuals are assigned to light armored vehicles with the mission of traversing the battlefield and establishing a strategic location that is conducive to weapon deployment. While in combat and en route, these soldiers may encounter a variety of hоstile weapons, including mortar rounds fired indirectly by the enemy and hоstile drones carrying bombs or scanning for artillery.
These assaults will be defended against by the Strykers’ lasers. A large acronym denotes the capability to fire objects from the sky in a conventional military fashion: DE M-SHORAD, or Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense. “MANEUVER” in this context refers to being “on a vehicle,” “DE” denotes the laser, and “SHORAD” specifies the distances and categories of targets that these lasers can destrоy. Due to the complexity of the aforementioned alphabet jumble, the vehicles shall henceforth be referred to as Guardian.
“Directed energy can provide a significant advantage in certain circumstances,” Craig Robin, deputy director of the directed energy office of the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, stated in 2021. “Since every bullet is integrated into the system, the logistics of transporting and supplying a platform consist solely of gas and components.”
The Stryker-mounted laser is supplied with power, battery charging, and cooling system operation by the gas engine of the vehicle. The energy that has been stored enables the 50-kilowatt laser to operate repeatedly prior to requiring a recharge.
In May, Raytheon, a manufacturer of lasers, declared that during testing, a laser affixed on an armored vehicle had effectively intercepted numerous mortar rounds. Mortars are widely utilized in both counterinsurgency and conventional warfare due to the low cost and arcing trajectory of their explosive rounds, which traverse intervening terrain such as buildings, forests, and hills before crashing down upon targets from above. In Afghanistan, mortar bombardment was a constant concern for military forces due to its ability to circumvent fortifications. Moving projectiles are also capable of destroying vehicles and decelerating entire columns.
In midair, lasers provide a method for destroying these projectiles. The explosive may be detоnated in midair or its guiding fin may melt, causing it to follow an altered trajectory, due to the heat of the beam. An entire platoon of Stryers outfitted with these lasers might possess a form of rolling protection, thereby significantly increasing the difficulty of employing such weapons against soldiers.
Thus far, lasers have been employed to protect vessels and personnel from mortars and unmanned aerial vehicles. Laser weapons can exhibit efficacy under optimal conditions; however, the light propagation and concentration of such weapons can be significantly compromised by dust, precipitation, or dense smog. The time required to destrоy drones with a laser varies dependent on the specific component of the drone that is targeted and the laser’s power.
On the battlefields of Ukrаine, drone observers and artillery spotters, particularly low-cost models, have demonstrated their worth, as both Ukrainian and Russian forces have utilized them to great effect. Designed to rival and surpass the capabilities of commercial quadcopters, the United States Army is deploying its own specialized quadcopters. While lasers are unable to halt the drone’s motion after it has transmitted video or coordinates, they do have the capability to halt its surveillance.
Prior to engaging in combat overseas, Strykers equipped with lasers will be stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The system has undergone testing by the Army through demonstrations and development exercises. At this juncture, the integration of lasers into routine military operations presents an additional instrument intended to safeguard contemporary personnel against the perils inherent in modern warfare.