Viktor Viktorovich Apollonov - General Director of Energomashtekhnika LLC, Head of the High Power Lasers Department of the Institute of General Physics named after. A.M. Prokhorov RAS. Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, professor, laureate of State Prizes of the USSR (1982) and the Russian Federation (2002), academician of the Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
The author is the world's leading scientist in the field of high-power laser systems and the interaction of high-power laser radiation with matter, author of more than 1160 scientific publications, of which 8 monographs, 6 chapters in collections and 147 copyright certificates and patents, trained 32 doctors and candidates of science. Graduated with honors from MEPhI in 1970, Faculty of Experimental and Theoretical Physics. Total experience in the field of high-power lasers is 45 years.
There are increasingly frequent reports in foreign and Russian media that laser weapons are being actively developed in the United States. What have the Americans achieved? How can such weapons change modern methods of armed struggle? Are similar works being carried out in Russia? I will try to answer these and other questions in the article offered to the reader.
To begin with, I would like to quote an excerpt from an article in the American magazine of the beginning of the laser era, which wrote: “Since the discovery of the laser beam, there has been talk about “death rays” that will make rockets and rocket technology outdated." And now about how things stand in this area of activity today. In Russia it has always been important not to lag behind other richer competing partners.
Now in the USA, chemical lasers are being replaced by solid-state (s/t) laser systems with semiconductor (s/p) pumping. The huge advantage of chemical lasers was that there was no need to create a bulky and heavy power plant to power the laser; the chemical reaction was the source of energy. The main disadvantages of these systems to this day are environmental hazards and cumbersome design. Based on this, today the emphasis is on t/t lasers, since they are much more reliable, lighter, more compact, easier to maintain and safer to operate than chemical lasers. Laser diodes used to pump the laser active body are easily compatible with low-voltage nuclear and solar energy and do not require voltage transformation. Based on this, the authors of many projects consider it possible to obtain higher output power in the case of a t/t laser placed in the same volume of an aircraft carrier. After all, a solid body has a density that is many orders of magnitude greater than the medium of a chemical laser. The issue of energy pumping of the active medium seems especially important in conditions of long-term operation of mobile complexes.
Today, the level of development of t/t lasers in the USA is approaching the output power value of 500 kW. However, achieving significantly higher laser output powers in a standard and already proven multi-module geometry seems to be a difficult task. The main problem in achieving a higher power level for a t/t laser with semi-pump pumping is the need to completely rethink the technology for manufacturing active elements of laser mobile complexes. 100 kW lasers from Textron and Northrop Grumman consist of large number laser modules, which, when increasing the output power of the complex to a level of several MW, will lead to many dozens of such modules, which seems to be an impossible task for mobile complexes.
The Northrop company has already presented a functional tactical t/t laser with a power of 105 kW and intends to significantly increase its power. Subsequently, the “hyperboloids” are expected to be installed on land, sea and air platforms. However, in this case we are talking about tactical aircraft, i.e., systems operating at short ranges. Laser power is the energy released by the laser per unit time. When interacting with an object, it must be compared with losses due to thermal conductivity of the material, heating of the air flow during movement, and with the fraction of laser power going to reflection from the object. From this it can be seen that you can heat the object of influence with a laser pointer, but it will take a very long time to heat it. In the very general case The laser power is provided by the efficiency of pumping the active medium and its size. Thus, it becomes clear that the input of the maximum possible energy must be carried out to the maximum possible extent. short time. But there is a very important limitation here - the formation of plasma on the surface of the object, which impedes the passage of radiation.
Existing high-power laser systems today operate precisely in this subplasma regime. But it is also possible to tame the plasma mode of energy input, but for this you need to find such a temporary pulse-periodic (P-P) mode in which the radiation pulses last a very short time and during the time between pulses the plasma manages to become transparent again and the next portion of radiation arrives surface freed from plasma. But to maintain a high level of total energy arriving at the object, the frequency of these pulses must be very high, several tens to hundreds of kilohertz. Today, two modes of laser influence on an object are actively used in the world: forceful influence and functional. With the force mechanism of influence, a hole is burned in the object or any part of the structure is cut off. This leads, for example, to an explosion of a fuel tank or to the impossibility of further functioning of the object as a single system, for example, an airplane with a cut off wing. Enormous power is required to implement forceful destruction at long ranges. Thus, the projects of the “Strategic Defense Initiative” with a destruction range of more than a thousand kilometers required a laser power level of 25 MW or more. Even then, in 1985, at a conference in Las Vegas, where full-scale research in the field of creating a powerful LO was launched, it was clear to us, members of the USSR delegation, that a strategic mobile LO would not be created in the next 30–40 years.
But there is another mechanism - functional impact, or, as it is called in the USA, “smart impact”. With this mechanism of action we're talking about about subtle effects that prevent the enemy from completing the assigned task. We are talking about the blinding of optical-electronic systems of military equipment, the organization of malfunctions in the electronics of on-board computers and navigation systems, the implementation of optical interference in the work of operators and pilots of mobile equipment, etc. This has already come to stadiums, where they are trying to use laser pointers to blind goalkeepers. With this mechanism, the range of effective influence sharply increases due to a sharp decrease in the required power densities of laser radiation on the target, even at the existing insignificant level of output powers of laser complexes. It was precisely this mechanism for disrupting the implementation of assigned military tasks that Academician proposed in his letter to the decision-making bodies. A.M. Prokhorov already in 1973. And it is this mechanism that dominates today in the field of application of LO. So we are convinced once again: “There are prophets in their own country!”
LO is a weapon that uses high-energy directed radiation generated by laser systems. Damaging factors on a target are determined by thermal, mechanical, optical and electromagnetic effects, which, taking into account the power density of laser radiation, can lead to temporary blinding of a person or an optical-electronic system, to mechanical destruction (melting or evaporation) of the body of the target object (missile, aircraft, etc.) etc.) to the organization of failures in the operation of the electronics of on-board computers and navigation systems. When operating in a pulsed mode at the same time, with a sufficiently large concentration of pulsed power on the object, the impact is accompanied by the transmission of a mechanical impulse, which is due to the explosive formation of plasma. Today, T/T and chemical lasers are considered the most acceptable for combat use. Thus, US military experts consider the t/t laser as one of the most promising sources of radiation for airborne missile systems designed to combat sea- and air-launched ballistic and cruise missiles. An important task is both the task of suppressing optical-electronic means (OES) of air defense and the task of protecting one’s carrier aircraft nuclear weapons from enemy guided missiles. IN last decade Significant progress has been noted in the field of creating lasers, which is due to the transition from lamp pumping of its active elements to pumping using laser diodes. In addition, the ability to generate radiation at several wavelengths allows the use of t/t lasers not only to influence the target, but also to transmit information to various systems weapons, for example, to detect, recognize targets and accurately aim a powerful laser beam at them.
WHAT OTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THIS SAME DIRECTION ARE BEING CONDUCTED IN THE USA?
Another and very important direction in the use of tactical low-power lasers is being promoted by Raytheon, which has relied on fiber laser systems. The improvement of t/t laser technology has led to the creation of a new type of device: optical amplifiers and lasers based on so-called active fibers. The first fiber lasers were created using quartz fibers saturated with neodymium ions. Currently, lasing is obtained in quartz fibers with rare earths: neodymium, erbium, ytterbium, thulium, praseodymium. The most common fiber lasers in the world today are those with neodymium and erbium ions. The 100-kilowatt fiber laser system is already integrated with the anti-aircraft artillery system. A land version has also been created. Recent tests in the Persian Gulf have confirmed the high effectiveness of the fiber laser in shooting down unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) at short ranges of 1.5–2 km and destroying special targets mounted on small vessels.
Here we should say a few words about the operating principle of such “integration”. Seven 15 kW fiber lasers are placed in the barrel of the artillery complex, taken with its entire infrastructure. Using a guidance system, the radiation is concentrated on the drone and sets it on fire. The range of destruction is within 1.5–2.0 km. This seems very important technology, given our past problems with drones during the 2008 conflict.
It should also be noted that the US-developed chemical HF/DF lasers are the most promising for combat use in outer space. For an HF laser, the energy source is the energy of a chemical chain reaction between fluorine and hydrogen. As a result, excited hydrogen fluoride molecules are formed, which emit infrared radiation with a wavelength of 2.7 microns. But such radiation is actively scattered by water molecules contained in the form of vapor in the atmosphere. A DF laser was also developed, operating at a radiation wavelength of ~4 μm, for which the atmosphere is almost transparent. However, the specific energy release of this laser is approximately one and a half times lower than that of an HF laser, which means it requires more fuel. Work on chemical lasers as a possible means of space LR has been carried out in the USA since 1970. High demands are placed on the aircraft in terms of rate of fire; it must spend no more than a few seconds to hit each target. In this case, the laser installation must have a source of additional energy, have search, target designation and targeting devices, as well as control of its destruction.
The first successful attempt to intercept missiles using a laser was carried out in the United States in 1983, the laser was installed on a flying laboratory. In another experiment, five air-to-air missiles were fired sequentially from an aircraft. The infrared missile heads were blinded by the laser beam and went off course. It is also important to note large-scale experiments on functional (“smart”) target destruction, which were carried out at the White Sands training ground in New Mexico using the MIRACL laser complex with a power of 2.2 MW. The targets used were US satellites with a set of optoelectronic systems (OES) at an altitude of 400 km and models of Russian satellites. The results of the experiments were assessed by experts as very successful. It should be noted that the environmental problems of maintaining this test stand on the ground do not blind military analysts to the gigantic advantages of HF/DF complexes in space, where the release of harmful components into open space will not present any big problems from their point of view.
At the same time, the range of wavelengths generated by this type of chemical laser appears to be extremely important for suppressing a wide range of OES. However, further scaling of the power of this type of laser seems difficult to implement.
Another important development of laser radiation in the USA should be considered the already well-known oxygen-iodine laser. In 2004, Northrop Grumman conducted the first test of an airborne combat laser at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Tests were then carried out only on the ground - the laser installed on the mock-up of the aircraft turned on for only a split second, but the performance of the aircraft was proven. In this type of laser, a powerful stream of photons is generated as a result of a chemical reaction.
These photons form a laser beam, the wavelength of which is -1.315 microns, well suited for military purposes; such a beam overcomes clouds well. The estimated duration of each shot is 3–5 seconds. The target of laser action is the fuel tank of an enemy missile - in a split second the beam heats it up and the tank explodes. Full-scale firing tests of this complex against aerial targets simulating a ballistic missile in the acceleration section were carried out in 2007 - in the low power, and in January-February 2010 - already in high power mode.
Structurally, the YAL-1 complex includes a carrier aircraft (converted Boeing 747 -400 °F); directly a combat laser system based on a megawatt-class chemical oxygen-iodine laser, including six working modules installed in the tail section, weighing 3000 kg each, and others that ensure the functionality of the complex, systems and equipment. There is practically no free space left on a huge plane.
In addition, under the auspices of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the United States has developed many other systems, for example, a laser system called HELLADS (High Energy Laser Anti-Missile System). This system uses a 150-kilowatt laser and is designed to protect troop concentration areas and important objects from being hit by guided and unguided missiles and medium- and large-caliber artillery shells.
In June 2010, the US Navy also conducted an experiment involving another "automated laser firing system", designated LaWS. This complex includes three lasers, two of which are for targeting and one combat. During the experiment, four unmanned targets were successfully shot down over the sea with its help. The videos made during the tests were demonstrated with great success at the Raytheon stand during the Farnborough 2010 aerospace show. Today, the American Navy is already experimentally studying in the Persian Gulf the possibility of hitting not only drones, but also small surface targets with the help of air defenses.
It is also worth mentioning the Skyguard tactical complex, which was created on the basis of a demonstration model of a ground tactical complex. The mobile LO complex has a radiation power of up to 300 kW, and its reduced weight and dimensions make it possible to transport it on the ground and transfer it by air. The basis of the complex is a laser installation based on a chemical fluorine-deuterium laser with an operating wavelength of 3.8 microns. The complex also includes a fire control radar station, command post and aids.
An interesting question is: how much can you trust the reports of the American media about the successful development of lasers and the results achieved?
It seems to me that in full, although sometimes to enhance the effect on the public, on which the financing of projects depends, there are also talented stagings involving dynamite, high pressure and other things. Journalists also enjoy attending these performances, who then do their part to involve other countries in spending to obtain not always convincing results. But such ideas, as we well know, occur not only in the USA.
WHAT ARE THE MOST ACUTE PROBLEMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMBAT LASERS?
First of all, this is the lack of a completely new element base for creating new types of aircraft. For example, further improvement of t/t lasers with semi-pump pumping required the development of laser ceramic technology, and this in turn requires time and significant funds. Another example is related to the development of technology for high-power laser diode arrays and matrices. The United States, according to Japanese media reports, has already spent more than $100 billion for these purposes, and the technology continues to be improved. A laser diode array is a single monolithic emitting device containing up to 100 laser structures, the total linear size of which is 10 mm. Accordingly, a laser diode matrix is a emitting device assembled from a large number of laser diode arrays.
In foreign and Russian scientific literature one can often find the terms “strategic” and “tactical” LO. It is important to understand by what criteria they differ? Here the main parameter is the power of the laser complex, with which the range of effective use is closely related. It often happens that they build a strategic complex, but it turns out to be just tactical. This happened with the latest and most expensive development YAL-1A, it was originally designed for a range of 600 km, but in practice demonstrated the required effectiveness only at a range of 130 km.
It should be noted that tactical laser systems at lower power levels in the United States are already very close to being replicated and actually used. So Pentagon experts are not even thinking about closing many of the laser programs that “didn’t reach the mark” and are doing their best to promote their further development. Progress cannot be stopped! Lasers turned 55 years old this June. Last year's DARPA report talks about global change"rules of the game" after the widespread use of "directed energy weapons" that will turn traditional symbols of military power into obsolete junk at the level of cannonballs and cavalry. Strategic aviation has reached a decent level in 110 years. So the strategic LO still has 55 years left. But in reality, its creation will happen much faster.
Russia, according to many experts and media reports, was the first country to achieve noticeable results in this area. As RIA Novosti reported, commenting on reports of Boeing's successful testing of a chemical laser on an airplane, Russia began developing tactical air defense simultaneously with the United States and has in its arsenal prototypes of high-precision combat chemical lasers.
From the words of the agency it follows that “The first such installation was tested in the USSR back in 1972. Even then, the domestic mobile “laser gun” was capable of successfully hitting air targets. Since then, Russia's capabilities in this area have increased significantly. It was also noted that significantly more funds are currently being allocated for this work, which should lead to further success. However, the period of scientific and technical bad weather, well known to specialists, after M.S. Gorbachev signed an order at Baikonur to close all work on laser radiation, caused significant damage to laser research in the country. Immediately after this event, tales on the topic “LO is a bluff” began to actively spread in the press. As a result, an epic set of myths has formed around combat lasers in our country, hindering the further development of research in this area. Most of them were built on the principle of either a conscious lie or diligently turning a fly into an elephant.
In fact, the effective assistance of lasers on the battlefield is real, and an army that can acquire them will receive an impressive advantage. For example, aviation capable of actively defending against anti-aircraft missiles and air-to-air missiles with the help of anti-aircraft missiles will become much less vulnerable to air defense systems. And there are a lot of such examples. In the case of aviation, we can talk about laser suppression of optical-electronic missile guidance systems. At the same time, it is important to understand that the development of laser technologies is critically important not at all for the Americans, but to a greater extent for us, for Russia! Combat lasers are an obvious asymmetrical response to the Western superiority in the development of precision weapons for today's army. The “ideology” of the last statement in an extremely crude form boils down to the fact that our potential technologically advanced enemy, instead of pouring dozens of blanks “over the area,” will accurately “lay” a single, albeit much more expensive, ammunition on our heads, remember Yugoslavia. However, such a scheme is especially vulnerable to laser defensive systems, which don’t care whether they “burn” an archaic two-hundred-dollar projectile or an expensive, ultra-modern missile. At the same time, the number of these high-precision projectiles on board the carrier is not so large, and their cost is hundreds of times more than that of the most expensive laser “shot.”
Despite the internationally established prohibitions, the United States will sooner or later launch spacecraft into space. These are the realities of developments in the world in recent years. Space, according to American military experts, is the highest priority and the front line in conflict situations already occurring in the world. It is seen as a potential theater of military operations, in which the unconditional advantage of the United States over any adversary should be ensured.
Many published US documents focus on the fact that only by mastering priority in space in all its forms can one remain a political, economic and military leader in the world and dominate military conflicts of the future. American experts consider priority work to create means of monitoring outer space, intercepting, inspecting and disabling enemy satellites, as well as work to create systems for detecting impacts on their own satellites and protecting them from such impacts. In the near future, US strategists admit the possibility of the emergence of a variety of antisatellites, launched into orbit secretly or under the guise of satellites for other purposes. A miniature spacecraft (US combat unmanned spacecraft X-37B) with a secret mission was launched on December 11, 2012 and broke its own record on March 26, 2014. His previous record was 469 days in low-Earth orbit. This mission of the spacecraft is fully consistent with the document “US National Space Policy” of 2006, which proclaims the right of the United States to partially expand national sovereignty to outer space. American strategists assign an important place among the possible types of effective means of combat in space to space-based missiles.
In accordance with US doctrine, devices of this type will also be used for control of outer space, including identification, inspection and destruction of enemy spacecraft, as well as escorting large spacecraft in the interests of their protection. It is in such areas that it is planned to use promising laser developments necessary for future space operations. The same document states that the United States will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that would seek to terminate or limit U.S. access to or use of space. Arms control agreements or restrictions must not interfere with the right of the United States to conduct research, development, testing, activities, or other activities in space for purposes of national interest. In this regard, the US Secretary of Defense is directed to “create capabilities, plans and options to ensure freedom of action in space, and to deny the adversary such freedom of action.” It is difficult to say more clearly.
One of the most important tasks solved in the creation of new types of weapons is currently countering enemy air-space attack weapons, the continuous development and improvement of which makes the task of developing means of combating them extremely important and urgent. According to domestic and foreign experts, lasers should be considered the most promising means of combating the new generation of airborne contaminants. The creation of super-powerful anti-aircraft missiles opens up new opportunities for combating certain types of air defense weapons, the effective counteraction of which becomes problematic using traditional air defense and anti-aircraft weapons. Flight time is the key to understanding the situation. As the missile systems of a potential enemy approach our borders, this critical time is sharply reduced. Help in restoring parity can be sought in the implementation of local protection of objects that are especially important for the country’s defense capability based on laser systems capable of instant response.
This trend is, as it is now fashionable to say, in trend and it is important to take into account that in the USA and other countries large-scale work is currently underway to create strategic complexes LO for destruction (suppression) of aerospace targets. These are, of course, France, Germany, England, Israel, Japan, which have been present on the laser technology market for a long time and are quite energetically working on the problem of creating an effective combat aircraft capable of hitting aerospace targets. The Israeli government, in particular, is very interested in having such a weapon to combat the missiles that neighboring Islamic groups use to fire at Israeli territory. In this regard, a mobile tactical high-energy chemical laser was created by TRW Corporation, commissioned by the American Army and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. With its help, a Katyusha-type multiple launch rocket system was shot down. Tests were conducted in New Mexico. According to the developers, a chemical laser generates a powerful beam, the range of which can reach tens or even hundreds of kilometers.
This and South Korea, which, as international media report, is also creating a missile that will be capable of disabling North Korean missile and artillery systems. The high-power laser system is being developed by a team of researchers from the Ministry of Defense and several South Korean military companies. The goal is to transfer this LO to the Army for use as a means of defense in the event of North Korean missile and long-range artillery use.
This includes Japan, which, in order to protect against North Korean ballistic missiles, is developing a powerful laser capable of shooting them down. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the Patriot air defense system should hit missiles in the atmosphere, and LO - immediately after launch in the initial part of the flight path. It is according to this scheme that work is being carried out in the USA, the curator of these laser programs.
China, according to the American press, like other high-tech countries, has LO. The recent publication in the United States of information about an attempt to blind their spacecraft by the Chinese military is a possible confirmation of this. Laser systems are also being created that can shoot down missiles at low altitudes. A laser beam is expected to disable the missile control system.
According to experts and media reports, the USSR was the first to achieve noticeable results in this area. The glorious past successes of domestic LO creators are confirmed by the following well-known facts.
In 1977 at the OKB im. G.M. Beriev began work on the creation of the flying laboratory “1A”, on board which was located a laser installation designed to study the propagation of rays in the upper layers of the atmosphere. These works were carried out in broad cooperation with enterprises and scientific organizations throughout the country, the main one of which was the Almaz Central Design Bureau, headed by Doctor of Technical Sciences, Academician B.V. Bunkin. The Il-76 MD was chosen as the base aircraft for creating a flying laboratory under the symbol A-60, on which significant modifications were carried out that changed it appearance. The first flying laboratory “1A” took off in 1981. At the end of 1991, the next flying laboratory “1A2” USSR-86879 was lifted into the air. On board it was a new version of a special complex, modified taking into account previous tests. According to the source given below, at the end of the 60s, the Terra-3 laser installation was built in the town of Sary-Shagan (Kazakhstan).
In an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, one of the creators Soviet program military lasers, Professor Pyotr Zarubin noted that by 1985, our scientists knew for sure that the United States could not create a compact combat laser, and the energy of the most powerful of them did not then exceed the energy of the explosion of a small-caliber cannon shell. At that time, the installation already had a locator, the operation of which in 1984 was proposed to be tested on real space objects in orbit. The developments of lasers carried out at the NPO Astrophysics, headed at that time by N.D. Ustinov, are also well covered in the press. The state of recent laser programs was well characterized by the former Chief of the General Staff Yu. N. Baluevsky: “I can confidently say that the development of military technologies and the creation of modern forms of effective laser weapons are developing in parallel and are at approximately the same level in all those countries that have the opportunity to develop it . The statement is very tricky; it is not entirely clear from it whether Russia had the opportunity to fully develop laser technologies all these difficult years and modern forms LO. Of course, there was a significant reduction in funding for laser programs, but a significant gap from the rest of the world in understanding the problems of high-power lasers in previous years and very effective research programs made it possible to maintain the potential of Russian laser science and again move significantly forward in some areas of research. This fully applies to fiber and disk technologies, as well as to new time modes of laser radiation generation for high-power systems. The development of new physical mechanisms of influence determined by these new modes also seems extremely important.
It is important to clearly understand what is happening today in this critical area of high technology. Today, LO seems to be one of the most promising and fastest growing weapons in the world. Objects of destruction for military targets can be high-tech equipment, the enemy’s military infrastructure, and even his economic potential. And yet, the combat purpose of the existing LO on this moment, so far only tactical. However, the increase in the power of tactical lasers, which is taking place abroad and the emergence of new ideas in its use, for example, the combination of powerful lasers with the capabilities of geophysics, can lead to a qualitative leap - the transformation of lasers into a formidable geophysical weapon.
Russia has repeatedly found itself in a situation where it was necessary to “get through the eye of a needle.” And now the situation around Russia is developing in a rather bad way. We must work together to overcome the complacency of the last twenty years. And we will overcome it, there is no doubt. But to do this, it is necessary to break out of the captivity of the ongoing copying of many US tactical laser developments - which are still ineffective, cumbersome and do not allow, even in the long term, to achieve the strategic goals facing the country’s aerospace defense (ASD). There are many different environments for creating effective LO. World laser science began its ascent from a solid body and, it seems, will end precisely with a solid body in the search for designs with a minimum weight-to-system power ratio - kg/kW, important for mobile applications of high-power and ultra-powerful laser systems for civil and military applications.
Comparison of this ratio for gas-discharge, gas-dynamic, chemical lasers and alkali metal vapor lasers with a similar ratio for the new generation of solid-state lasers indicates the absolute priority of the latter. Indeed, if this ratio reaches a value significantly less than 5 kg/kW, we can confidently talk about equipping almost all aviation (airplanes and helicopters) and all battlefield rolling stock and sea-based assets with tactical (possibly, in the future, strategic) laser weapons! For all of the lasers listed above, the ratio of the weight of the system to its power turns out to be significantly greater than the value indicated above.
Lockheed Martin has already announced that it has achieved a ratio of 5 kg/kW for modern solid-state laser systems and sees the prospect of its further reduction. In the case of fiber laser systems, which were recently demonstrated in the Persian Gulf, this makes little difference. Due to the smallness of the exit pupil of the fiber (hundreds of microns), the pulse-periodic (P-P) mode with high pulse energy is fundamentally impossible. This means that it is only possible to use the traditional and absolutely ineffective mode of influence, with which both we and the Americans have already “played enough” during the SDI era. Hence the obsessive advertising of fiber lasers in foreign media.
But there is another “modern” solid-state laser - disk laser. This idea of acad. It is true that N.G. Basov is already 52 years old, but it is precisely this principle of constructing powerful laser complexes that turns out to be dominant today and for a long time in the future. At the same very favorable ratio< 5кг / кВт этот конструктивный принцип позволяет реализацию высокоэнергетичного И-П режима, т. к. апертура дискового лазера имеет диаметр порядка 1 см. Для увеличения средней мощности системы несколько дисков складываются в оптическую систему «ZIG-ZAG» , значение средней мощности такого модуля сегодня уже составляет 50 кВт. Модули, как и в случае волоконных систем, выстраиваются параллельно и мощность складывается на цели. Исходя из приведенных цифр видно, что 100 кВт лазер, компания «Локхид - Мартин» его называет «Thin-ZAG» , будет весить менее 500 кг!!! Параллельное сложение модулей ведет к увеличению общей апертуры системы и, следовательно, к возможности увеличения энергии импульсов в периодической последовательности, что качественно меняет механизм взаимодействия, позволяя многие новые эффекты на мишени.
Laser sources of significantly higher power are needed to perform aerospace defense tasks. But from the disk geometry of modules with a power of even 75 kW (the Lockheed Martin company plans this increase due to the quality of reflective coatings) to a power level of the entire system of 25 MW is a distance giant size. Combine the power of more than 100 modules into a single beam in case mobile complex does not seem possible. What is the difficulty that Academician spoke about many years ago? N.G. Basov? Enhanced spontaneous emission (“ASE” - energy release along the diameter of the disk) prevents a significant increase in its aperture. And if a solution to the problem of ASE suppression is found, then with an aperture with a diameter of 50 cm we can seriously talk about an ultra-compact laser complex with an average power of 10 MW. Another problem that the academician spoke about was disk cooling. We solved this problem long ago when creating power optics for high-power megawatt-class lasers. Recently we managed to find a solution to this formidable problem - the suppression of the USI. Now we can safely imagine an aircraft carrier with a 10 MW laser complex on board, effectively solving the problems of laser cleaning of space and aerospace defense at strategic ranges. And this will be a breakthrough in solving the problem of strengthening the defense capability of the State!
At the same time, we must begin to actively fight anti-propaganda. For example, something like: “Lasers are very expensive toys, they are not capable of solving any defense problems, they have changed little over the past 55 years, etc.” The reasons for this situation around lasers are quite obvious:
Firstly, the highly successful Soviet laser program of the 70-80s was literally “killed” in the early 90s as unpromising - and the characters who did this, for obvious reasons, are not too eager to answer for their opportunistic decisions, and are today engaged in largely more profitable and career-safe business;
Secondly, if business interests loom behind the production of traditional types of weapons in our country certain groups influence, then the laser lobby practically does not exist in our country, because there are no others, and those are far away;
Thirdly, a significant part of the Russian political elite is always ready to turn a blind eye to the strengthening of the emerging “asymmetry” in the field of strategic weapons simply in order not to irritate the “overseas partners” and always have guaranteed access to their money in Western banks;
Fourth, continuing to fight for the interests of the country’s defense capability today is not so safe for your personal career and health. You need to have enviable courage, a broad scientific outlook, intuition and special knowledge in this field of high technology, as well as a good vision of the prospects for the further development of the strategic situation in the world in order to defend your position in modern conditions.
It is already obvious that a “laser” technological race is unfolding in the world. The most developed countries, relying on their technological advantage, are directing multibillion-dollar funds to develop high-tech laser systems of the next generations. Their investments in new technologies for creating aircraft are simply not comparable to what we do. They are ten times larger. It was about the need for accelerated development of high technologies that Russian President V.V. Putin spoke in his speech at an extended meeting of the State Council. In this regard, it is important to note the opinion of American experts, which is that today one of the most effective means of gaining technological superiority in the world is still laser technology. Russia, through the efforts of Nobel laureates A. M. Prokhorov, N. G. Basov, has always been one of the world leaders in this field, and I hope it will remain in the future
The “legacy” of our great scientists has not gone away; it is here, with us. The high-frequency I-P mode was developed in collaboration with academician. A. M. Prokhorov. 13 years have passed since his departure, and we have made no progress in terms of further scaling the power of this generation mode. Need funds and attention Government agencies, responsible for this area of scientific and technical activity. Another example. Since the proposal of academician N.G. Basov spent 52 years developing disk laser geometry.
His “disc laser” represents a revolutionary step in the development of the physical and technical fundamentals and technology of lasers and opens up new prospects for their further development and effective use to solve a new class of problems, both civil and military applications. The patent, however, does not belong to N.G. Basov, but to a German who toured Russia with a sharp pencil and a thick notebook. Half a century has passed, and government support for the development of this unique technology is still insufficient. The policy of concentrating material resources in one Laser Center located on the periphery also seems erroneous. It is known that personnel decide everything, and historically the country’s most qualified personnel in the field of laser technologies were located in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In such a situation, they find themselves deprived of the opportunity to participate in the creation of new models of laser technology. But creating a new galaxy of engineering and technical professionals is a long process, and there is no time for training!
For non-specialists, we need to explain in somewhat more detail what a disk laser is. A disk laser is so called because its laser active element is made in the form of a disk with a thickness much smaller than its diameter, which has a highly reflective coating on one of the sides of this active element both for reflecting laser radiation and for pumping. In this laser, according to acad. N.G. Basov needed to solve two problems: cooling the disk and suppressing ASE, i.e. suppressing the generation of radiation in the plane of the disk. Today we have finally found a solution to these problems! The prospect of creating a “superlaser” for a new class of tasks is open.
A mono-modular scalable large-diameter disk laser can and should be made by us in soon, which will allow Russia to once again take a leading position in this very fundamental issue of laser physics. The mono-modular disk laser geometry is the most effective form of implementation of a compact and lightweight laser, capable of being placed on board existing aircraft with an average power of within 25 MW. Even the specific parameters already achieved for t/t laser systems with semi-pumping, expressed in kW/kg, allow us to speak in the case of large-diameter disk geometry about the possibility of a new and very effective solution to the country’s aerospace defense problems.
These new-old technologies - I-P mode with a high pulse repetition rate (>10 kHz) and a mono-modular disk laser - are perfectly combined in a single laser complex. In particular, over the past years, in addition to the experimental demonstration of the mode at the 10 kW level and the use of this mode for cutting metals, glass and composites, we have theoretically shown the high efficiency of using the high-frequency I-P mode to solve the problem of effective destruction of space debris (SD), for cutting thick ice of the North Arctic Ocean, for implementing a laser engine, for creating a conducting channel and much more.
High-frequency I-P mode is a laser lasing mode in which laser energy is released in the form of a sequence of short pulses with a high frequency. In this case, the peak power of individual pulses is hundreds and thousands of times higher than the average power of the conventional continuous generation mode
Leading specialists in the field of creating high-power high-frequency I-P lasers and the authors of the patent are employees of Energomashtekhnika LLC, created with the participation of academician. A.M. Prokhorov in the difficult years of the early 90s. We have proposed and experimentally implemented a laser engine based on the mechanism of high-frequency optical pulsating discharge and obtained record engine thrust characteristics. Based on a high-frequency I-P laser, a conducting channel with minimal resistivity was proposed and experimentally implemented, the possibility of its scaling to significant scales and the feasibility of such a highly conductive channel, including in a vacuum, were shown.
HOW CAN YOU DESTROY SPACE JUST WITH A LASER?
It's quite simple. When a sequence of powerful laser pulses is applied to an object, recoil pulses occur, which cause the object to move in space. And then, by acting in this way, you can change its orbit and either drive it into dense layers and allow it to burn up on its own like meteorites, or push it into “long-lived” orbits. Currently, the topic of laser cleaning of near-Earth space from debris is being actively discussed in the world. Thus, the space cleaning technology proposed by US scientists, based on the use of the old generation of long-pulse laser systems, appears to be ineffective. Today, within the framework of international treaties that are important for world cosmonautics, we can talk about a joint solution to the spacecraft problem. Such a program, like Sea Launch, could unite the efforts of many countries actively working in peaceful space. A high-power, high-frequency, mono-modular disk I-P laser located on a mountain near the equator appears to be the best candidate for solving this problem.
It is appropriate to note here that the renaissance of many laser technologies is associated with the advent of powerful high-frequency I-P laser radiation. For example, cutting metal in sublimation mode (ablation) turns out to be 7–8 times more effective. And the appearance, associated with a high peak radiation power in this mode, of an optical pulsating discharge (reproducible plasma clot) in the atmospheric air leads to a wide range of completely new technologies.
WHAT SHOULD RUSSIA DO TODAY TO NOT END UP IN THE WORLD “LASER PROGRESS”?
It is obvious that we need to go towards the main goal - the goal of reliable provision of the country's aerospace defense, but in our own way, without blindly copying all the innovations of scientists and defense complex USA.
Russia has proven more than once that it can “jump over red flags” and achieve unique results due to the talent and fantastic performance of scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences and engineering and technical personnel of military-industrial complex enterprises. Lasers are far from toys! Namely, the opposite was stated in our country after the failed completion of work on the Strategic Defense Initiative. But in the USA and other developed countries they quickly came to their senses and continued work at double the pace. And we, working ineffectively, continue to wait for another “corpse” of a super-powerful laser complex unsuccessfully developed in the USA to float past us. But if new modifications of LO based on t/t laser with p/p pumping, which the United States is now working hard on, will not float, but if the set goal of building a strategic air defense that almost instantly destroys enemy military equipment at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers is finally achieved. What then?
LITERATURE
US News and World Report, October (1971).
D. Litovkin Laser weapons development in full swing in U.S. and Russia, December, (2014)
P. V. Zarubin Laser weapons. Myth or reality. Transit-X LLC (2010)
P. V. Zarubin From the history of the creation in the USSR of high-energy lasers and systems based on them for defense tasks, 1963–1980. Report at the seminar of the Institute of General Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, (2012)
A. Patent 5,175,664 USA. Discharge of lighting with ultrashort laser pulses. H02H 003/22.
b. Patent 5,726,855 USA. Apparatus and method for enabling the creation of multiple extended conduction paths in the atmosphere. H01H 3/22.
c. Patent 6 191 386 Bl USA. Method and apparatus for initiating, directing and constructing electrical discharge arcs. B23K 9/067.
V.V. Putin. Speech at an extended meeting of the State Council, Moscow (2015)
V. V. Apollonov. High power P-P lasers, NOVA publishing house, (2014)
N. G. Basov, O. v. Bogdankevich, A. Z. Grasiuk IEEE J. of QE 2 (9), (1966)
V. V. Apollonov. American journal of modern physics 1 (1), (2012)
V. V. Apollonov. Conducting channel for energy delivery, Journal of Natural science v. 4, N.9, 719–723, (2012)
V. V. Apollonov. Cosmic lining. Fighting space debris and objects of natural origin using lasers, Expert Union, 5, (2012)
V. V. Apollonov. High power lasers and new applications. International journal of engineering research and development, v. 11, issue 03, March (2015).
The term “laser,” which is familiar to us, is an abbreviation for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, which translated means “amplification of light through stimulated emission.”
Lasers were first discussed seriously in the second half of the 20th century. The first working laser device American physicist Introduced by Theodore Maiman in 1960, lasers are used in a wide variety of applications today. Quite a long time ago they found application in military equipment, although until recently we were talking mainly about non-lethal weapons capable of temporarily blinding the enemy or disabling his optics. Full-fledged combat laser systems capable of destroying equipment are still at the development stage, and it is difficult to say exactly when they will become operational.
The main problems are associated with the high cost and high energy consumption of laser systems, as well as their ability to cause real damage to highly protected equipment. However, every year the leading countries of the world are increasingly developing combat lasers, gradually increasing the power of their prototypes. The development of laser weapons would most correctly be called an investment in the future, when new technologies will make it possible to seriously talk about the feasibility of such systems.
winged laser
One of the most sensational projects of laser combat systems was the experimental Boeing YAL-1. A modified Boeing 747-400F airliner served as a platform for placing the combat laser.
The Americans have always been looking for ways to protect their territory from enemy missiles, and the YAL-1 project was created precisely for this purpose. It is based on a 1 MW chemical oxygen laser. The main advantage of YAL-1 over other means missile defense- this is that the laser complex is theoretically capable of destroying missiles at the initial stage of flight. The American military has repeatedly announced successful tests of a laser system. However, the real effectiveness of such a complex seems rather doubtful, and the program, which cost $5 billion, was discontinued in 2011. However, the developments obtained in it have found application in other projects of combat lasers.
Shield of Moses and Blade of Uncle Sam
Israel and the United States are world leaders in the development of combat laser systems. In the case of Israel, the creation of such systems is due to the need to counter frequent rocket attacks on the country’s territory. In fact, while a laser will not be able to confidently hit targets like a ballistic missile for a long time, it is quite capable of fighting short-range missiles now.
Palestinian Qassam rockets are a constant source of headaches for the Israelis, and the US-Israeli Nautilus laser missile defense system was supposed to be an additional security guarantee. The main role in the development of the laser itself was played by specialists from the American company Northrop Grumman. And although the Israelis invested more than $400 million in Nautilus, they withdrew from the project in 2001. Officially, the results of the missile defense tests were positive, but the Israeli military leadership was skeptical about them, and as a result, the Americans remained the only participants in the project. Development of the complex continued, but it never reached mass production. But the experience gained during the Nautilus testing process was used to develop the Skyguard laser complex.
The Skyguard and Nautilus missile defense systems are built around a high-energy tactical laser - THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser). According to the developers, THEL is capable of effectively hitting missiles, cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and drones. At the same time, THEL can become not only an effective, but also a very economical missile defense system: one shot will cost only about 3 thousand dollars, much cheaper than launching a modern anti-missile missile. On the other hand, it will be possible to talk about the real efficiency of such systems only after they are put into service.
THEL is a chemical laser with a power of about 1 MW. After the target is detected by the radar, the computer orients the laser system and fires a shot. In a split second, the laser beam causes enemy missiles and shells to detonate. Critics of the project predict that such a result can only be achieved in ideal weather conditions. Perhaps this is why the Israelis, who had previously abandoned the Nautilus project, were not interested in the Skyguard complex. But the US military calls the laser system a revolution in the field of weapons. According to the developers, mass production of the complex may begin very soon.
Laser in the sea
The US Navy is showing great interest in laser missile defense systems. According to the plan, laser systems will be able to complement the usual means of protecting warships, taking on the role of modern rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns, such as the Mark 15. The development of such systems is fraught with a number of difficulties. Small drops of water in humid sea air noticeably weaken the energy of the laser beam, but the developers promise to solve this problem by increasing the laser power.
One of the latest developments in this area is MLD (Maritime Laser Demonstrator). The MLD laser system is just a demonstrator, but in the future its concept may form the basis of full-fledged combat systems. The complex was developed by Northrop Grumman. Initially, the installation’s power was small and amounted to 15 kW, however, during testing, it also managed to destroy a surface target - a rubber boat. Of course, in the future, Northrop Grumman specialists intend to increase the laser power.
At the Farnborough 2010 air show, the American company Raytheon presented to the public its own concept of a combat laser, LaWS (Laser Weapon System). This laser system is combined into a single complex with the Mark 15 naval anti-aircraft gun and in tests managed to hit a drone at a distance of about 3 km. The power of the LaWS laser machine is 50 kW, which is enough to burn through a 40 mm steel plate.
In 2011, Boeing and BAE Systems began developing the TLS (Tactical Laser System) complex, which also combines a laser system with a rapid-fire 25-mm artillery gun. It is believed that this system will be able to effectively hit cruise missiles, airplanes, helicopters and small surface targets at a range of up to 3 km. The rate of fire of the Tactical Laser System should be about 180 pulses per minute.
Mobile laser complex
Another Boeing development - HEL-MD (High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator) - should be installed on a mobile platform - an eight-wheeled truck. During tests that took place in 2013, the HEL-MD complex successfully hit training targets. Potential targets for such a laser system could be not only drones, but also artillery shells. Soon the power of HEL-MD will be increased to 50 kW, and in the foreseeable future it will be 100 kW.
Another example of a mobile laser was recently presented German company Rheinmetall. The HEL (High-Energy Laser) laser complex was installed on a Boxer armored personnel carrier. The complex is capable of detecting, tracking and destroying targets - both in the air and on the ground. Enough power to destroy drones and short-range missiles.
Prospects
Renowned expert in the field advanced weapons Andrey Shalygin says: “Laser weapons are literally line-of-sight weapons. The target must be detected in a straight line, the laser aimed at it and steadily tracked in order to transfer enough energy to cause damage. Accordingly, over-the-horizon destruction is impossible, and sustained, guaranteed defeat at long distances is also impossible. For longer distances the installation should be raised as high as possible. Hitting maneuvering targets is difficult, hitting shielded targets is difficult... In numbers, all this looks too banal to even talk about it seriously, compared even to primitive ones existing systems Air defense.
In addition, there are two factors that further complicate the situation. The power supply of such a weapon in today's conditions should be enormous. This makes the entire system either extremely cumbersome, or extremely expensive, or has a lot of other disadvantages, such as a short total time in combat readiness, a long time to bring into combat readiness, the huge cost of a shot, and so on. The second significant factor limiting the effect of laser weapons is the optical inhomogeneity of the medium. In a primitive understanding, any ordinary bad weather with precipitation makes the use of such weapons below the cloud level completely useless, and protection from it is lower layers The atmosphere seems very simple.
Therefore, there is no need to say yet that samples of any know-how in laser weapons in the foreseeable future will be able to become something more than not the most best weapon close combat for naval groups in good weather and for air duels taking place above the cloud level. As a rule, exotic weapons systems are one of the most effective ways for lobbyists to make money in a “relatively fair” way. Therefore, in order to solve tactical problems with combat units within the framework of the art of war, you can easily find a dozen or two much more effective, cheaper and simple solutions assigned tasks.
The airborne systems being developed by the Americans can find very limited use for local protection against air attacks above the cloud level. However, the cost of such solutions significantly exceeds existing systems without any prospect of reducing it, and the combat capabilities are significantly lower.
With the discovery of materials for the construction of superconducting systems operating at temperatures close to environment, as well as in the case of the creation of compact mobile high-energy power sources, laser systems will be produced in Russia. They can be useful for short-range air defense purposes in the fleet and used on surface ships, for starters - as part of systems based on platforms such as the Palma ZK or AK-130-176.
IN ground forces Such systems in fully combat-ready form have been known to the whole world since the time when Chubais tried to openly sell them abroad. They were even exhibited for this purpose at MAKS-2003. For example, MLTK-50 is a conversion development in the interests of Gazprom, which was carried out by the Trinity Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Research (TRINITI) and NIIEFA named after Efremov. Its appearance on the market, in fact, led to the fact that the whole world suddenly moved forward in the design of similar systems. At the same time, at present, the energy systems allow us to have not a dual, but an ordinary single automobile module.
It seems that laser systems are not a weapon of tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow. Many critics believe that the development of laser systems is a complete waste of money and time, and large defense corporations are simply mastering new means with the help of such projects. However, this point of view is only partly true. Perhaps the combat laser will not soon become a full-fledged weapon, but it would be premature to give up on it completely.
2610
The US Navy tested an "active laser weapon" LaWS (Laser Weapons System) in the Persian Gulf and hit with an invisible pulse. At the same time, the official representative of the Navy, Captain First Rank Christopher Well, noted the versatility of the installation, high accuracy and low cost of the “shot”.
The Americans announced plans to equip warships with the latest laser weapons back in the spring of 2013. And Rear Admiral Matthew Klander then: " Newest technologies allow you to create laser beams that can be fixed on a target and not lose it, regardless of the movement of the ship in conditions of strong wind and waves. The laser will cut the target like a blowtorch. In addition, the new weapon will be able to “blind” the cameras of reconnaissance aircraft." However, the admiral allowed a decrease in the effectiveness of laser weapons against fast-moving targets - supersonic aircraft and missiles.
Expert on LaWS tests: The United States combines “business with pleasure” for itselfThe US has tested laser weapons (LaWS) in the Persian Gulf, media reports. Military expert Boris Rozhin expressed the opinion on Sputnik radio that such tests are a definite signal.Indeed, a combat laser reaches its maximum destruction range only in airless space, and the pathos of American statements on this topic always exceeds the persuasiveness of the tests. Readers who had mastered the school physics course well were skeptical about the new achievement of the American defense industry (as evidenced by three hundred comments on this news on the website). Experts were unanimous: such tests and systems do not yet threaten warships and aircraft; laser guns are too dependent on the power of the generator and the distance to the target. The “electricity from a small standard generator” mentioned by Christopher Well raises all the more doubts because the laser installation was placed on a huge transport ship with a length of 173 meters and a displacement of over 16 thousand tons.
The laser weapon system (LaWS) on the USS Ponce transport dock was tested in the Persian Gulf for the first time in 2014, and progress since then is not obvious. Today there are no answers to a number of fundamental questions. What is the power of the laser machine? At what distance is the target hit? What material is the drone made of? Did it have a reflective coating and how fast did it fly? Is marketing hoax ruled out?
The advantages of laser weapons are speed and accuracy, the ability to “blind” a target, the absence of unmasking effects in the form of fire and smoke, and the relative cheapness of the shot (the amount of ammunition is determined only by the power of the energy source). The beam has no mass and does not require ballistic corrections. Why have convenient combat lasers not yet replaced traditional weapons systems?
The key disadvantage is the high level of energy consumption. And if a compact and inexhaustible source of energy ever appears, refraction will not disappear - the laser beam in the atmosphere expands and loses focus (its temperature decreases). Therefore, the combat range is limited to three to five kilometers (wavelength and other tricks do not play a special role). And even at this distance, bad weather (rain, fog) or reflective coating on the target (the mirror reflects the laser beam regardless of the power level) turns the superweapon into a useless toy.
It looks like impressive nonsense, for example, American air-launched combat laser, a $5.3 billion “anti-missile dream.” The project was closed, despite the current YAL-1A prototype, placed on the Boeing 747-400F aircraft. The system was developed to destroy enemy ballistic missiles. The laser seemed to be successfully tested, but the maximum “firing” range turned out to be unacceptable for real combat conditions.
Kilowatt race
Despite the thorny path of the laser beam in earth's atmosphere, it can be assumed that in the coming years tactical laser weapons will be adopted in several countries around the world. Thus, the Americans intend to install laser cannons on the F-35 fighter, on the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and Zumwalt class destroyers.
Combat laser systems are being persistently developed by British, German, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and, of course, Russian specialists. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov in 2016 announced the adoption of the weapon, which can be placed on aircraft, wheeled and tracked combat vehicles, as well as on Navy ships. Testing of the Russian air-launched laser system (carrier - Il-76 transport aircraft) continues. Perhaps it will receive laser weapons.
The Nautilus laser missile defense system was jointly developed by American and Israeli specialists in the late 90s. However, Israel withdrew from this program. The Americans used their experience to create the Skyguard laser missile defense system (tests began in 2008). Later, in the United States, Boeing and BAE Systems developed a new TLS defensive system, which, according to the developers, should hit cruise missiles, helicopters, airplanes and surface targets at distances of up to five kilometers. In 2012, Lockheed Martin introduced a compact ADAM laser air defense system for destroying UAVs, shells, missiles and mines at distances of up to five kilometers.
© Photo: Lockheed Martin Corporation
By the way, the new Russian supersonic anti-ship missile P-700 Granit flies through this laser fire zone in about six seconds.
In 2013, the United States tested a 10-kilowatt laser system and apparently shot down several mines and a drone. This year they planned to test an installation with a capacity of 50 kilowatts. Perhaps by 2020 a 100-kilowatt model will appear. However, to destroy ballistic and cruise missiles in the atmosphere, a power hundreds of times greater is required.
At the arms exhibition in Singapore in 2014, Israel presented the Iron Beam laser combat system, designed to destroy shells, missiles and mines at a distance of up to two kilometers. It can be noted that in all examples the range of laser systems does not justify the investment. And in the medium term, the creation of a long-range atmospheric laser looks unlikely.
Humanity has been working with combat lasers since the early 1960s. And the Soviet Union was not inferior to the United States in this race. Tests of Soviet combat lasers were carried out at the Sary-Shagan training ground in Kazakhstan. According to information from open sources, in 1982 the installation hit a radio-controlled target. Self-propelled complexes "Compression" and "Sangvin" were developed to disable the optical-electronic systems of enemy armored vehicles and helicopters, respectively. An attempt was made to launch the Skif laser combat station into low-Earth orbit to destroy American guidance satellites.
Be that as it may, laser developments have found application in a variety of fields of science and technology (CD players, devices for determining precise distances, holography, surgery, metalworking). And perhaps the current “atmospheric” efforts of defense specialists will have an unpredictable beneficial result for civilians.
Our first collection of materials under the heading “Weapons of the Future,” dedicated to combat robots, aroused considerable interest among readers, as evidenced by letters to the editor. In them they ask to continue publications about modern types of weapons and those being developed abroad. Fulfilling this request, we dedicate the next selection to combat lasers. Let us recall that in the ranking of the most promising weapon systems published by New Scientist magazine, they occupy second place.
"Death Rays" by Archimedes
“When Marcellus removed the ships to a distance exceeding the flight of an arrow, the old man built a special hexagonal mirror; At a distance proportional to the size of the mirror, he placed similar quadrangular mirrors, which could be moved using special levers and hinges. He turned the mirror to the midday sun - winter or summer - and when the beams of rays were reflected in it, a huge flame flared up on the ships and, from the distance of an arrow, turned them into ashes.
This is essentially the first mention of “death rays,” which should probably be considered a prototype of laser weapons. They, according to legends that have come down to us, were invented by Archimedes in the 3rd century BC and used in the defense of Syracuse from the Roman troops besieging the city. By the way, in Fig. Figure 1 shows how the Italian artist Giulio Parigi (1571 – 1635) imagined the effect of this optical weapon. Over the next two millennia, there was debate about the possibility of turning light into a weapon, sporadically provoked by science fiction writers. The most famous of them were the novels “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells and “The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin” by Alexei Tolstoy. In the first, the aliens who attacked Earth were equipped with weapons in which heat rays created in an unknown way served as a damaging factor. In the second, the author even described the design and operating principle of his weapon. Some thermite candles were used as an energy source in the hyperboloid, and a system of mirrors focused the heat beam. The result was “...a narrow beam, like a needle, cutting off the pipes of huge factories, cutting the armor of battleships like a hot knife...”. 
In practice, it was not possible to create a stable beam using traditional sources and systems. Only the invention of an optical quantum generator in 1954–1955 by Soviet scientists Nikolai Basov and Alexander Prokhorov, simultaneously with the American Charles Townes, moved the process forward. As a result, the first laser was obtained (LASER - “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”, which means “light amplification as a result of stimulated emission”). According to Nikolai Basov, “a laser is a device in which energy, for example thermal, chemical, electrical, is converted into the energy of an electromagnetic field - a laser beam. With this conversion, some energy is inevitably lost, but the important thing is that the resulting laser energy is of higher quality. The quality of laser energy is determined by its high concentration and the ability to transmit over a considerable distance. A laser beam can be focused into a tiny spot with a diameter on the order of the wavelength of light and obtain an energy density that exceeds today the energy density of a nuclear explosion.”
Nowadays, there are many laser designs. We often encounter some of them in everyday life. For example, with semiconductor (laser pointer and reading head in CD and DVD players), gas (school helium-neon and technological on carbon dioxide, which cuts metal) and others. In the military sphere, the successes are not so striking, although, given the properties of lasers, it is not difficult to assume that combat laser systems have a great future. Firstly, the laser beam reaches the target at the speed of light - 300 thousand km per second. Secondly, laser weapons do not depend on gravity: as you know, bullets and shells fly in a parabola due to gravity. Thirdly, laser weapons are incredibly accurate. For example, having traveled the distance to the Moon (380 thousand km), the diameter of the beam will diverge by only 1.5 kilometers. Fourthly, laser weapons can completely destroy attacked objects or only damage them.
Lethal effect The laser beam is achieved as a result of heating the target materials to high temperatures, which leads to the destruction of the object, damage to the sensitive elements of the weapon, blinding the human visual organs, up to irreversible consequences, causing thermal burns to the skin. For the enemy, the effect of laser radiation is characterized by surprise, secrecy, absence of external signs, high accuracy, and almost instantaneous action. True, there is also serious problems combat use of lasers. This is primarily the need to connect the laser gun to powerful source electricity. To carry out one “shot”, at least 100 kW is required. The effectiveness of laser weapons is reduced by fog, rain, snowfall, smoke and dust in the atmosphere.
Solid state, chemical, liquid...
It is believed that the creation of laser weapons can be compared to the birth of a nuclear bomb. And the country that solves this most complex scientific and technical problem first will have the opportunity to dictate its terms to the world community. Therefore, work in this area is not particularly advertised. Nevertheless, there are enough reports in the media that indicate that in a number of states that have the appropriate technologies, and especially in the United States, intensive work is underway to create laser weapons. In this case, the main efforts are concentrated on solid-state, chemical, X-ray lasers with nuclear pumping, with free electrons and some others.
A solid-state laser, for which rubies or some other crystals are used as an active substance, is considered by US experts as one of the promising types of generators for combat systems. However, it is pointed out that solid-state lasers require too much energy for pumping and cooling to be used on the battlefield. In this regard, liquid lasers look more attractive. They use rare earth elements as an active substance, which are dissolved in certain liquids. Any volume can be filled with liquid. This facilitates cooling of the active substance by circulating the liquid itself in the device. However, the power of such lasers is low.
The Defense Development Agency of the US Department of Defense decided to combine liquid and solid-state laser technologies. Lasers with a liquid active substance are able to emit a continuous beam without requiring large cooling systems, while lasers based on crystals are more powerful, but the beam is pulsed to avoid overheating. "We have combined the high 'energy density' of a solid-state laser with the 'thermal stability' of a liquid laser," said project leader Don Woodbury. This results in a continuous laser beam of significant power that does not require large cooling systems. The Pentagon expects that thanks to this association, scientists will create a compact combat laser with a power of 150 kilowatts as early as 2007.
An even greater energy flow in the beam was achieved using a chemical laser, which is produced using the reaction of combining hydrogen with fluorine. From just one gram of reagents, this reaction releases about 500 J of energy. If you replace ordinary hydrogen with deuterium, then the spectrum of the resulting beam will be in the “transparency window” of the atmosphere and such a “gun” can even be used to destroy fortified ground targets. However, operating a combat system operating on such an explosive mixture (fluorine reacts even with glass, and the hydrogen fluoride released is one of the strongest acids) is not easy. In addition, chemical lasers require an entire warehouse of chemicals to be used as fuel nearby.
In 2003, specialists from the US Naval Research Command and the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory developed the FEL (free-electron laser). To obtain it, a beam of high-energy electrons is passed through a special device (“magnetic comb”), which causes them to perform sinusoidal oscillations at a given frequency. By changing the parameters of the “magnetic comb”, it is possible to obtain output radiation with different wavelengths. The efficiency of such a laser is much higher than that of other types - about 20 percent. As experiments show, this device can “tune” to the radiation of electromagnetic waves in the infrared, optical ranges, as well as ultra-high frequency waves. In addition, it has one more property that no other similar device in the world has: it can emit extremely short light pulses lasting less than one trillionth of a second. “FEL has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Gil Graf, a spokesman for the US Naval Research Office. According to him, the naval command is considering the possible use of a laser system, primarily to create active combat protection for surface ships.
In recent years, intensive work has been going on to create combat systems based on X-ray lasers. Their effect on an object differs from the lasers already discussed, which hit targets with beams due to thermal effects. When an X-ray laser is used, the target is subjected to an impulsive impact, leading to the evaporation of the material on its surface. Such lasers are distinguished by high X-ray energy (100 – 10,000 thousand times higher than other lasers) and the ability to penetrate significant thicknesses of various materials.
In search of new sources of energy that would be no less powerful than nuclear energy, have the precision of a laser weapon and can be easily controlled over a wide range of energy values, scientists came up with the technology of artificial proton decay. It releases almost a hundred times more energy than even a thermonuclear explosion. Unlike the nuclear fission reaction, proton decays do not require any critical mass values or fixed values of other parameters. Only a certain combination of them is important. This allows you to create generators of any power and use their various modifications for a wide range of weapons. From an individual emitter to strategic planetary complexes, power plants and transport systems.
From space and across space 
If we talk about specific combat laser systems, then, for example, in the United States, the development of laser systems in the interests of air defense, anti-missile and anti-space defense has become a priority in their creation. At the same time, it is envisaged to create systems that could be used at the tactical, operational-tactical and global-strategic levels.
The first operational prototype of a combat laser (Tactical High-Energy Laser - THEL) was created by the American-Israeli research group and was successfully tested in 2000 at the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. During the test, THEL (photo 1) was able to destroy several dozen missiles launched from a distance of approximately 10 km. He simultaneously led 15 targets and spent no more than 5 seconds destroying each of them. At the same time, however, THEL could fire only a couple of shots at 3 thousand dollars each without reloading. The three main components of this system are the chemical deuterium-fluorine laser, optical system laser beam control and a combat control and communications point were developed separately and were not integrated into a single complex. The result is a mobile combat system the size of 6 huge tourist buses, which is too juicy a target for the enemy. It is assumed that after finalizing and improving the system, creating it in a mobile version, it will be able to solve air defense (missile defense) tasks at the tactical level and protect US and allied troops from surface-to-surface missiles and cruise missiles.
Meanwhile, on the basis of THEL, the Northrop-Gramman corporation developed the Skyguard laser complex. It surpasses its predecessor in power and range and, according to its developers, can be used to protect important military and civilian installations, as well as troop positions, from fire from short-range ballistic missiles, projectiles jet systems multiple rocket launchers (Grad or MRLS type), artillery shells and mortar shells. A single Skyguard complex can cover an area up to 10 kilometers in diameter.
For the second level - operational-tactical - an airborne combat laser system ABL (Airborne Laser) is being developed. Full-scale tests of the aircraft laser program will begin in 2008. A Boeing 747 aircraft (Fig. 2), with a powerful chemical laser installed in the nose of the aircraft, will begin test firing at target missiles. Research is being conducted under the leadership of the US Missile Defense Agency. The developers expect that the laser system will be used to destroy ballistic missiles during launch, when they are most vulnerable, as well as along the trajectory at ranges from 300 to 500 km. To do this, an aircraft with an on-board laser will patrol close to the proposed missile launch area. Infrared sensors will detect a missile launch and send a signal to the computer, which will turn the laser turret in the desired direction. First, two small solid-state lasers must fire, one of which will serve for target designation, and the second will calculate optical distortion taking into account atmospheric changes. The main laser will then hit the missile.
The budget for the ABL program in 2006 was $471.6 million. This money was supposed to be used to test laser target designation correction and stability systems, as well as ground tests in order to prepare for airborne firing. And at the end of October, the Boeing Corporation presented to customers from the Pentagon a modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft, armed with a high-energy laser system capable of destroying ballistic missiles immediately after their launch. According to Reuters, ground tests of the system were successful, and the first combat training interception of a ballistic missile in the air is planned for 2008. And approximately by 2012 - 2015, the US Air Force plans to have up to 7-8 aircraft with the ABL system in its theater air defense (missile defense) forces. It is believed that it can also be used to destroy other strategic and tactical targets. 
The third level is global-strategic - space laser system (SBL program). Its development is proceeding in several directions. Back in 1997, an experiment was conducted in the United States to irradiate an experimental Air Force satellite MSTI-3, located at an altitude of 420 km, with a laser. Tests have shown that the energy of a small 30 W chemical laser, which was used to guide the powerful MIRACL laser system, is quite sufficient to blind the optical equipment of Earth imaging satellites.
Today, Boeing and Air Force specialists are working on the ARMS (Aerospace Relay Mirror System) project. According to it, the new weapon will consist of super-powerful land- or sea-based stationary lasers and a system of mirrors located on airships and unmanned aircraft, and in the future on space satellites. This will allow him to strike any targets on the ground and near-Earth space almost instantly. The receiving mirror will collect the light and then redirect it through a special focusing system that detects interference in the atmosphere and corrects the signal. After adjustment, the second mirror sends a beam to the specified target. The laser installation must have a power of 1001000 kW.
Tests conducted this year at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico confirmed the combat effectiveness of the new system. They used a 1 kW laser and a reflective system located at a distance of 3 km. The system consisted of two 75 cm wide mirrors located close to each other. They were suspended at a height of 30 m using a crane. The laser beam was successfully redirected and hit the target.
Judging by reports, the Pentagon is also considering a project to create a network of satellites (space platforms) equipped with laser “guns” (Fig. 3). Its developers claim that these “guns” will be able to destroy a wide range of targets throughout earth's surface and in near-Earth space. There are other projects, which allows us to conclude that the United States does not yet have a unified plan for the creation of combat laser systems of a global strategic level. Nevertheless, the Pentagon intends to conduct natural tests of such lasers starting in 2012, and their adoption is planned for 2020.
In infantry battle formations
Well, what about on the battlefield? Will warring sides hit each other with death rays in ground operations? “Absolutely,” said Sheldon Meth, a Pentagon specialist in the field of laser weapons. - Yes, today high-power chemical lasers require the support of almost an entire chemical plant, and solid-state lasers require too much energy for pumping and cooling to be used on the battlefield. But in the future, a combat laser will appear in a portable version - for installation on an armored personnel carrier - and even in a wearable version - in a shoulder bag.” Sheldon Meth does not give a time frame. However, his colleague Don Woodbury is confident that this will happen within two years, when the first combat laser will be created for use in ground operations. It should weigh no more than 750 kg and be the size of a large refrigerator. This will allow it to be installed on an armored personnel carrier. And in the future, the dimensions of this laser will only decrease. 
“The battlefield is going to change,” says Livermore Lab researcher Thomas McGrann, who works on laser warfare simulations. “When the enemy shoots something at me today, I shoot it down.” From any distance from one to three kilometers I can suppress the fire. When he sends out his drones, which are very difficult to hit, I shoot them down too. The infantryman says he is being fired upon from a forested hillside. Then we just start a fire there. But it is almost impossible to detect a laser beam, and most importantly, it allows you to deliver an instant strike with an almost 100 percent guarantee of hitting the target.” A laser beam can be used to disable electronics in military equipment or explosive devices, as well as enemy personnel. For example, to paralyze voluntary contracting muscles of the arms and legs. At the same time, the muscles of the heart and lungs, operating at a different frequency, continue to function normally.
Of course, expect soldiers to run around with lasers at the ready, as happens in science fiction films, not necessary. “Most likely, it will be an exceptionally long-range, ultra-precise sniper rifle,” says American weapons expert John Pike. “With its help, from behind cover, it will be possible to achieve the desired result.” But its appearance in service is a distant prospect. US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will soon receive a laser device that can temporarily blind drivers who ignore warnings at checkpoints. According to Pentagon officials, this should reduce the number of casualties among local residents who did not pay attention to warning signals and came under fire from American soldiers. To do this, the M-4 carbines will have a 27 mm long tube-shaped device capable of delivering a laser beam. It will temporarily blind drivers without causing them to lose their vision completely. It is possible that in the future this device, depending on its power, will be used against the driver of enemy armored vehicles, a sniper, and a pilot of a low-flying attack helicopter. And in order not to hit your own, Motorola is creating a CIDDS device. It allows you to distinguish friend from foe in combat conditions at a distance of 1 km. One part of the CIDDS is mounted on the helmet, the second on the rifle. When the laser beam generated by the second unit contacts the CIDDS module on the helmet of another soldier, this module sends an encrypted radio signal about who has been detected - friend or foe. The identification process takes about 1 second.
Combat lasers mounted on tractors, armored personnel carriers and aircraft may soon appear in the combat formations of American troops. Thus, in October of this year, Boeing began testing the so-called Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL). This high-energy chemical laser, installed on the C-130H aircraft, will be able, its developers believe, to destroy or damage targets in urban areas with little to no collateral damage. The ATL's range is expected to be more than 20 kilometers. A version of this laser is also being developed for installation on Hummers. 
General Dynamics Corporation will produce a remotely controlled mine clearance vehicle, Thor (photo 2), equipped with a laser system, for the US Army. The remote-controlled tracked vehicle was developed by the Israeli company Rafael. Thor is armed with an M2HB heavy machine gun and a laser launcher designed to destroy unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices. The laser system allows you to destroy unexploded shells, mines and explosive devices without detonation, causing the explosive to burn out. The machine gun allows you to destroy shells and explosive devices in massive cases that are not susceptible to laser action. Thor is equipped with an optical-electronic system that allows it to detect shells and mines regardless of the weather and time of day. The characteristics of the vehicle make it possible to use it to escort convoys, break through fortified defensive positions, and clear terrain. The vehicle's armor allows it to withstand small arms fire and small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery.
There is no need to particularly emphasize that the effectiveness of the use of weapons is largely determined by correct target designation and aiming. And here laser devices are most widely used. This is primarily the use of sights with a so-called “luminous aiming dot” in small arms. The essence of the action is that the aiming point is indicated by a beam of light generated by an external source, which is connected to the sight mechanism and can take into account corrections in direction and range. Moreover, in the most advanced models, the calculation of corrections is carried out by electronic ballistic computers with sensors for temperature, pressure and other parameters. There are also laser lights, pointers and rangefinders. The first are powerful point light sources, often mounted on weapons and having a range of up to 300 meters. Laser rangefinders are only now coming to hand-held small arms, although they appeared on heavy weapons several years ago.
Finally, target designators. They can be mounted separately from sights or in combination with them and with their help select the aiming point directly on the target. There are also complex laser target designators. Such as AN/PEQ-1B. They will soon enter service with special forces units of the US Navy and Marine Corps, responsible for targeting naval aircraft. The device is lightweight - 5.5 kilograms and compact in size (26x30x13 centimeters). The target designator can operate both manually and automatically, highlighting targets in a 45-degree sector. The device measures the distance to targets in the range from 200 to 10,000 meters with an accuracy of plus or minus five meters. The resolution of the reflected beam receiver is 50 meters. In target illumination mode, the device creates a small laser “spot” (at a distance of five kilometers - 2.3x2.3 meters), providing the possibility of targeted destruction of small-sized and highly protected targets. 
Here we were talking primarily about the creation of laser weapons in the USA. But other countries are also increasing their efforts in this area. Among those who have already achieved some success in creating such weapons are Israel, France, and China. Thus, according to DefenseNews, China has already irradiated American KeyHole series surveillance satellites several times during their flight over the country’s territory using a powerful laser ground-based installation. The fact that China has laser weapons is also stated in the Pentagon's annual report to the US Congress on the military power of the PRC in 2006. As it states, “at least one of the anti-satellite systems is likely to be a ground-based laser system designed to damage or blind satellites.”
By the way, back in the 1960s, the Soviet Union created a huge Terra-3 laser installation in the town of Sary-Shagan. It was capable of determining not only the range to the target, but also its size, shape, and trajectory from hundreds of kilometers away. A locator was created at Terra that could probe outer space. In 1984, scientists offered to “feel” the American Space Shuttle in orbit. But the top political leadership was afraid of the possible noise. The United States at that time was only trying to design a system for producing a combat laser beam.
In the pictures: "Death Rays". Painting by Giulio Parigi (1571-1635).
During THEL tests. Photo 1.
Remote controlled mine clearing vehicle Thor. Photo 2.
Boeing 747 project with chemical laser. Rice. 2.
A project of space platforms equipped with laser “guns”. Rice. 3.
The use of lasers in the military sphere has been talked about for decades, but now we are talking about the introduction of the first real weapon of this type. So why did it take so long to develop effective laser weapons? The first reason concerns the power source for such weapons, the selection of which represents a serious engineering problem.
Navy on Monday reported that new defense plans are being developed for ships currently deployed in the Persian Gulf. One of them in particular will be equipped with a laser weapon. The use of lasers in the military sphere has been talked about for decades, but now we are talking about the introduction of the first real weapon of this type. So why did it take so long to develop effective laser weapons?
The first reason concerns the power source for such weapons, the selection of which represents a serious engineering problem. The theory behind laser weapons is extremely simple: the task is to destroy a target using a concentrated beam of electromagnetic energy.
Conventional weapons work in much the same way: a gun bullet is just a more tangible way of delivering a lethal amount of energy.
This concept is so simple that people have played with the idea in different ways for thousands of years. Legend has it that during the siege of Syracuse, Archimedes was able to set fire to the sails of enemy ships using the sun's rays.
The alien beams from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds are fantastic weapons that also rely on the principle of energy beams. Just like the Death Star from Star Wars that destroyed the planet Alderaan. Defense systems experts have been talking about laser weapons since the late 1970s. However, creating effective laser weapons poses a number of serious technical challenges.
The first and most important question is a source of energy. Even in the best models, the laser uses only 20% of the electricity used to power the weapon. Aiming and focusing the laser beam requires even more energy. Because of this waste, hundreds of kilowatts of electricity are required to operate a 20-kilowatt laser that can destroy or seriously damage a small vessel. (For comparison: a typical window air conditioner consumes 1 kilowatt). That's why this new weapon is installed on a warship where there is more than enough electricity.
Even if we ever discover a miniature power source that can efficiently power a laser, we will not be able to create a portable laser weapon. The thing is that a typical laser machine actually emits three beams.
The first beam is used to measure atmospheric distortion. Next, a special computer calculates how the beam needs to be changed to adapt it to current conditions. The second beam is needed to track the target. Despite what is often written in science fiction, the laser must be focused on the target for several seconds to cause serious damage. Thus, the second beam allows you to keep a moving target in focus. The third beam is an actual energy wave and is approximately a meter in diameter. The laser usually heats up quickly, and therefore the unit is equipped with a cooling system.
The second major obstacle concerns the difficulty of deploying laser weapons on the battlefield. Such weapons should not only be possible from a technical point of view, but have better qualities and a lower price than those that already exist. Therefore, the army preferred to use the first samples of laser weapons in clearly defined niches, rather than create a separate branch of the military for it.
Currently, the most effective type is the Tactical High Energy Laser, which is powerful enough to destroy small objects such as incoming mortar shells. The Navy has another problem with small targets. The fact is that hitting small and maneuverable ships with conventional weapons is not an easy task. A tactical laser, in turn, only needs to focus on an approaching ship for a few seconds to explode its fuel tanks or damage its engine. This will avoid a repeat of the suicide attack on the USS Cole in 2000.
But what does the target feel like when the laser weapon is pointed at it? It's heating up. The laser carries energy. The powerful laser heats the surface of your skin and the cells underneath extremely quickly. This is, of course, an extremely painful experience, and anyone who remains exposed to the 20 kilowatt laser beam for too long will inevitably die.
However, the military is unlikely to start using lasers against people in the foreseeable future. The fact is that they are not just bulky: they take a lot of time to kill. If you feel a laser on you, all you need to do to protect yourself is hide behind any opaque object. However, the Army is considering weapons using microwave technology to disperse crowds: when exposed to such heat, people tend to flee. In any case, bullets will remain for a long time a much more effective way to injure or kill a person than any laser.
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