Laser Shoots Down Multi Targets
Source: Space Daily September 22, 2000
TRW is prime contractor for the U.S. Army's Tactical
High Energy Laser/Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (THEL/ACTD)
program. The THEL/ACTD beam director is the key optical component of
the THEL/ACTD pointer tracker subsystem. It is used to direct the
THEL/ACTD high-energy laser beam to its target.
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Redondo Beach - TRW, the U.S. Army Space & Missile
Defense Command (USA-SMDC) and the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMoD)
have set a new performance standard for directed energy systems by
using the Tactical High Energy Laser/Advanced Concept Technology
Demonstrator (THEL/ACTD) to repeatedly detect, track, engage and
destroy salvos of Katyusha rockets fired in rapid succession.
In a series of two-rocket salvo tests conducted August
28 and September 22 in the rolling, high desert of the Army's White
Sands Missile Range, N.M., the THEL/ACTD did twice what no other air
defense system has ever been designed to do: detect, track and destroy
multiple Katyushas in a single engagement.
The historic multiple rocket shoot-downs were achieved
less than four months after TRW, SMDC and IMoD first used THEL/ACTD to
destroy a single armed Katyusha in flight. They were performed as part
of an on-going program to demonstrate the THEL/ACTD's lethality
against short range tactical threats such as Katyusha rockets.
"Killing one rocket was significant, but being able to
show that we can consistently kill two or more targets per engagement
puts THEL/ACTD in a class by itself," said Lt. Gen. John Costello,
Commanding General, USA-SMDC. "These tests are making it increasingly
clear that directed energy weapon systems have the potential to
provide some unique and very effective defensive options on the
tactical battlefield."
"These tests have demonstrated the unique capability of
high energy laser weapons for tough air defense missions," said Major
General Dr. Isaac Ben Israel, Director of Israel's Directorate of
Defense Research and Development, which co-sponsors the THEL/ACTD
program with the U.S. Army. "It is now time to move forward to grasp
this remarkable opportunity."
"The success of the THEL/ACTD program is a direct result
of our team's relentless drive to develop a effective defense against
short range rockets," said Timothy W. Hannemann, executive vice
president and general manager, TRW Space & Electronics Group, the
Army's THEL/ACTD system prime contractor.
"Our careful, disciplined approach to integrating and
testing this revolutionary system allowed the Army, the Israel
Ministry of Defence and the TRW-led contractor team to turn a
theoretical goal into a lasting and very significant engineering
achievement. This is a proud day for TRW."
Engineers from TRW, the Army and the IMoD conducted the
multiple rocket tests under test conditions similar to those used
during the June 6 (DE-Day) test, when THEL/ACTD successfully
intercepted and destroyed a Katyusha rocket on its first attempt.
The major difference, of course, was that in these
tests, the laser system detected, tracked, and destroyed two rockets
in quick succession. The TRW/US Army/IMoD THEL team will use the
multiple rocket test data to evaluate the system's performance
relative to its mission requirements.
The THEL/ACTD was designed, developed and produced by a
TRW-led team of U.S. and Israeli contractors for the U.S. Army Space &
Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala. and the Israel Ministry of
Defence. Requirements for the system have been driven by Israel, which
needs to protect civilians living in towns and communities along its
northern border against rocket attacks.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-00l.html