Jay Clemens
Boeing and the U.S. Army have tested a company-built laser system to evaluate how the technology targets aerial objects through rough conditions.
The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator used an Oshkosh-vehicle-installed laser to destroy targets during the demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Boeing said Thursday.
“Under windy, rainy and foggy weather conditions in Florida, these engagements were the most challenging to date with a 10-kilowatt laser on HEL MD,†said Dave DeYoung, Boeing Directed Energy Systems director.
“As proven at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in 2013 and at Eglin Air Force Base this spring, HEL MD is reliable and capable of consistently acquiring, tracking and engaging a variety of targets in different environments, demonstrating the potential military utility of directed energy systems,” he added.
Boeing is set to test counter rocket, artillery and mortar and unmanned aerial vehicles next by installing a 50- or 60-kilowatt laser on HEL MD.
