U.S. Army Wants 50KW Lasers Fielded by 2022: “The Time Is Now to Get Directed Energy Weapons to the Battlefield”
November 6th, 2019Via: Stars and Stripes:
The Army is now developing 50 kilowatt lasers for its Stryker wheeled armored vehicles, with plans calling for a prototype to be fielded in 2022, the service said.
“The time is now to get directed energy weapons to the battlefield,” said Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, director of hypersonics, directed energy, space, and rapid acquisition.
“This is no longer a research effort or a demonstration effort. It is a strategic combat capability, and we are on the right path to get it in soldiers’ hands,” he said in a statement released Thursday.
Last week, the Army awarded competing contracts to Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to build the directed energy weapons. The two companies will act as subcontractors to Kord Technologies, which signed in May a $203 million contract with the service, and will each develop a prototype laser.
The program will deliver 50 kW-class lasers mounted in 2022 on four Strykers, the statement said. They would be tasked with protecting maneuvering brigades from drones, rotary-wing aircraft, rockets, artillery and mortar rounds.
