In almost every film speculating about the future, we see a familiar scene: enemies firing at each other using various laser and beam weapons. Is there a prospect for the development of real models of such weapons? What can be achieved in this sphere, given existing technology? At what level is the development of various means of laser destruction, including air and missile defense systems (ADS and MDS)? And the main question: which trendsetter in the world of weapons is ahead—the United States or Russia?

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that lasers have been used by the armed forces of most of countries for a long time. There are laser rangers, designators that guide air bombs, missiles, artillery shells and so on. Nevertheless, military officers’ long-held dream of using lasers to destroy targets hasn’t yet been implemented in practice, despite over a decade of development and tests. The apparent advantage of laser weapons are their its almost absolute hit precision (if a corresponding pointing system is available) and a maximum beam velocity equal to the speed of light (at the distances under examination, the target is hit almost instantaneously).

One of the critical disadvantages worth pointing out is a very low laser efficiency factor under the conditions of Earth’s atmosphere. For instance, one of the most powerful Soviet laser prototypes, installed aboard the ship Foros, had an efficiency factor of only 5 percent at a distance of no more than four kilometers. In the context of space, the loss of energy and scattering are much lower, though at long distances the issue is still pressing (for such objectives as the destruction of enemy missiles and warheads at a distance of one thousand kilometers).

Now, let’s consider the specific objectives assigned in the past and today to laser weapon developers and the current situation in this sphere, as well as further prospects.

Strategic Laser Missile Defense

The idea of creating a laser missile defense system as a means of defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) immediately comes to mind. But is this a good idea, and what is keeping it from being put into action?

The most popular and widely known laser MDS project was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, better known as the “star wars” program). The placement of Earth satellites with the weaponry based on new physical principles, one of which was laser weaponry, was given consideration within SDI. Initially, the project was much too ambitious: it was impossible to put the laser weapons of that time (and even of today) into orbit together with an energy source to recharge it. Furthermore, one is forced to face insurmountable laws of physics: because of the very low laser efficiency factor, the enormous amount of heat (a minimum of one hundred megawatts) is generated when shooting from rather powerful guns (more than five megawatts). The task of heat rejection in such volume in the space context is almost unsolvable; the maintenance of normal temperature is even difficult aboard the International Space Station, even though only astronauts and onboard systems generate heat there.

The second physical problem is to provide maximal beam scattering; otherwise the laser spot will be “smudged” and will not do damage to enemy ICBMs. In order to achieve acceptable results, it is necessary to create a perfect mirror with a minimal area of ten meters. Currently, the Hubble Space Telescope holds the record, with a mirror 2.4 meters in area. It was produced and perfected over many years and then, nevertheless, a defect of only two microns forced special adjustment equipment to be sent into space. Another problem is related to the mirror: while shooting, the reflector itself will be directly exposed to some amount of energy irrespective of the degree of reflectivity. With the high energy levels of a laser beam, even a small percentage will be enough to put the mirror out of service.

And finally, it is always worth remembering that an imaginary enemy could protect one’s missiles and warheads. The technology for producing materials capable of absorbing large volumes of heat is well known: the machinery launched alongside astronauts, upon atmospheric reentry, is exposed to a load equivalent to the radiation emitted from a laser with a power of five to ten megawatts at a great distance. It is also not a problem to cover warheads and ICBMs with the same foil to reflect the majority of radiation.

USSR chose a different path that time: it started developing the satellite destroyer station “Polyus.” The objective was evidently much simpler than the Americans’—as much less distance was required to fire the targets and far less radiation power, it was sufficient only to ruin the enemy’s satellite optical sensors to turn them to space junk. A model station, called “Skif-DM,” was launched in space in 1987, but was unable to enter orbit. After that, the project stalled. A laser with a power of one megawatt engineered for “Polyus” was installed on the IL-76 plane (called A-60 in that manifestation), but this will be covered below.

Taking into account the above, it may be concluded that creating an orbital laser missile-defense system is currently impossible and is unlikely to become reality in the foreseeable future. All discussions of the subject were either a bluff on the part of the United States (in order to draw USSR into a new, absurd phase of the arms race) or a means of cutting the defense budget on an exceptionally large scale.

Nuclear-Pumped X-ray laser

The creation of lasers operating within the X-ray range of frequencies appears to have been a complex task. This is particularly the case for powerful lasers capable of use for military goals. The only known way to obtain such a beam was laser pumping with the help of a nuclear burst. The burst turns metal strings into plasma threads, generating a laser within X-ray range. This process lasts some microseconds, whereupon the laser power becomes enormous. Such types of weapon were being developed by the United States, and, according to rumors, the first and the last test was carried out in 1980. A nuclear charge with a power of twenty kilotons was blasted underground, and a beam with the duration of one nanosecond and 130 kilocalories of directed energy (comparable to a machine gun’s string of bursts) was received. Inaccurate information on similar tests in USSR, with analogous results, is also available.

The American project was called “Excalibur” and was probably part of SDI, aiming to destroy Soviet ICBM warheads in space. Nevertheless, the laws of physics interfered again. The power of the resulting beam was not high enough because of various unresolved problems requiring the use of high-powered nuclear charges—more than one megaton—and strings more than twenty meters long. And even afterwards, one omission remained: materials capable of reflecting X-ray radiation hadn’t yet been engineered. For this reason, creating a mirror to focus the beam is impossible. Therefore, the gap of X-ray beams turns out to be very large and even ideally, at distances of one hundred kilometers, the energy will constitute only one hundred kilocalories per square centimeters—insufficient to destruct a duly protected warhead. Thus, X-ray lasers haven’t met expectations either.

Air-Based Lasers

Both the USSR and the United States developed and tested plane projects equipped with laser weaponry. Due to enormous dimensions and weight in both cases, the lasers were placed on heavy-duty aircraft.

The American Boeing YAL-1 aircraft first got off the ground in 2002. A one-megawatt chemical laser was installed aboard. The plane was planned to be able to destroy taking-off missiles from a distance of three to four hundred kilometers; it was supposed to hit at least twenty missiles per flight. Nevertheless, the laws of physics appear to have intervened again: in spite of the impressive successful results in optics and other technologies, the laser beam was nevertheless losing too much energy because of dust particles in the air, and a cloud stood in the way, it became almost completely useless. One year prior to the program’s closure, in 2010, one successful test was performed: the plane was able to hit a taking-off ballistic missile. After the shot, the gun cooled for approximately one hour, whereupon it hit another missile. The goal appeared to have been partially achieved; nevertheless, the distance from which the shot was performed is unknown.

The project was wound up in 2011 due to its costs ($5 billion had already been spent at that time) and inefficiency. Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared that in order to meet the goals, a laser twenty to thirty times more powerful was required. There was another problem, too: three to four hundred kilometers was a very small distance in order to cope with the task of strategic missile-defense systems, especially if it was confronting countries with large areas, such as China or the Russian Federation. Heavy-duty aircraft would not be allowed to reach such a distance, having been struck down much earlier.

The A-60 laser plane, a version of the IL-76 heavy-duty aircraft, was created in the USSR/Russian Federation. Its laser power constitutes one megawatt, and work on the plane has recently been restarted. There is almost no reliable information on tests and their results. There is, however, data stating that in 2009 the A-60 was able to position a beam over a satellite vehicle orbiting at 1,500 kilometers. Later on, information appeared stating that the project had been developed and that a system suppressing the enemy’s optical and electronic intelligence assets is to be created.

As we have noted, again, this is not about the creation of a system capable of doing actual physical damage to any facilities at relatively long distances.

Ground-Based Air-Defense/Missile-Defense Lasers

It’s also an old idea. The notion of hitting planes, aerodynamic missiles, shells and so on almost instantaneously has obvious appeal.

Two ADS laser projects were created in the USSR: “Terra-3” and “Omega.” The first one constituted an MDS system intended to fight warheads at the end of their flight path and destroy low-orbital satellites. The project failed to meet its goals, again, for reasons already mentioned above. In 1994, academician Nikolay Basov (a Nobel laureate, one of the inventors of lasers) provided the following reply to the question on the program’s results: “Well, we have determined with certainty that no one can hit a ballistic missile warhead with a laser beam, and we have significantly advanced the state of laser technology.” The “Omega” laser ADS has proven to be marginally better, actually hitting its aerodynamic targets within the tests. Nevertheless, the unit’s efficiency turned out to be distinctly lower than that of the surface-to-air missile systems of the time, causing the project to be scrapped. Recent rumors about Russia’s continuation of laser weapon development are likely to be related to the further development of “Omega” system; over the last two decades, new technologies have appeared that may breathe new life into the project.

Tests of similar systems were also conducted by the United States. Lately, the Americans have closely approached the creation of short-range laser ADS systems—primarily those intended to destroy enemy ammunition, landmines and UAVs. The HEL MD (High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator) system is already able to hit more than ninety landmines and several UAVs. The development of a laser-defense system for ships also continues; currently, it is able to attack UAVs and boats at a short distance. Nevertheless, the laws of physics interfere again with its actual tactical employment: as soon as the weather worsens, water droplets in the air start absorb almost all of a laser’s energy, effectively disabling it in the case of a storm or fog.

There is also information on the development of such systems from other countries: Israel, Japan, South Korea and beyond. Nonetheless, it’s early to speak of the success of such a concept—the price-to-quality ratio is important when compared to the traditional surface-to-air missile systems and short-range antiaircraft technology.

Laser Rifles, Pistols, Anti-Tank Weapon and More

Efforts to create similar weapons have been undertaken many times, but many have come up against the same problem: the lack of sufficiently powerful, yet light power sources. As a result, a laser with the power of a conventional AK-74 or M-16 could be the size of a truck. The task of striking tanks is even more challenging: in order to burn out the thick armor of modern tanks, exceptional power is required, while the shot must be fired from a short distance. Creating lasers with the ability to turn enemies blind turned out to be far more realistic; prototypes of such rifles were created even in China. But such weapons were recognized as inhumane, and are currently banned from use.

Conclusion

-The prospects for laser weapons are highly exaggerated, and overblown by the media and governments of certain countries. Developments in laser weaponry will not be able to tilt the balance of forces in the world for a very long time. Additionally, neither the United States nor the Russian Federation has any significant advantage in these technologies.

-The creation of effective laser strategic MDS systems is impossible in the foreseeable future. In order to implement such projects, breakthroughs in physics are needed.

-Develop laser rifles, tank projects and so on requires the creation of fundamentally new energy sources with compact size and low weight, but generating several orders of magnitude more energy.

-Currently, the most promising field is the creation of short-range ADS systems. Additionally, efforts to create laser defense for operational aircraft may prove to be of interest—the huge beam power will not be needed to blind the infrared head of the man-portable SAM weapon’s automatic homing and close-engagement missiles. In such a situation, the task of accurate and fast laser homing on the target is more challenging.

-The armies of several countries will soon come to include systems of laser suppression against enemy optics. Systems for sniper detection and blinding will also be rolled out.

Leonid Nersisyan is a military columnist for the REGNUM information agency, and editor-in-chief for New Defence Order magazine, Moscow, Russia. You can follow him at his Facebook account.

Image: “NORCO, Calif. (May 19, 2011) Daniel King, Microwave/Electro-Optic (MS32) electronics engineer at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Corona Division, prepares alignment of various optical components using eye-safe visible lasers. Under the Navy Metrology Research and Development Program, NSWC Corona's E-O Group has developed and patented two calibration standards for support of laser designator and rangefinder test sets. The laser transmitter supports standards keeps ordnance on target and reduces the cost of maintenance for the fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Greg Vojtko/Released) 110519-N-HW977-022”