The US Air Force announces that it has successfully used laser weapons to shoot down missiles in flight. The system is designed to be mounted on aircraft and take on both a defensive and offensive attitude.
The Air Force Research Laboratory conducted a test in April at the White Sands base in New Mexico with the system called “Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator” (“SHiELD” is the acronym that will be dear to all fans of Marvel comics).
The SHiELD was used on the ground to shoot down numerous missiles launched simultaneously. Major General William Cooley, head of the labs, says it is a "Great step forward for direct energy systems and defense against hostile threats."
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The system was created to be used directly on fighters, and to shoot down all sorts of surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. It includes three components: the laser “cannon”, a control system and a power system.
The laboratory's announcement statement did not lacks to put some advantages of the new weapon are highlighted, among all the enormous accuracy and speed, the possibility of a virtually use infinity and impossibility of being tampered with from the outside. On the other hand, it is not free from problems, mostly created by adverse weather conditions that reduce its effectiveness.
The US Air Force has been working on this system since 2016, and to the first ones, promising tests a contract with Lockheed Martin followed in 2017 with a 2021 deadline to produce a ready-to-use weapon. The current phase still involves ground tests, then the necessary miniaturization will follow of the components for better mounting on aircraft.
Furthermore, SHiELD is not the only technology tested by the American military: the summer last was the turn of a system mounted on Apache helicopters, and Lockheed collaborates with the army also for mounting its laser weapons on the ships of last generation.