Military technology company Lockheed Martin has developed a laser named the Athena that is able to hit targets from over a mile away.
The Athena, which stands for Advanced Test High Energy Asset, is a ground-based 30-kilowatt fiber laser weapon system that is still in its prototype stages. However, in a recently conducted field test, it found success in disabling a small truck's engine from a considerable distance.
The successful test demonstrated the quickly developing precision capabilities of Lockheed Martin's systems, which are used for protecting important infrastructure and military forces.
The truck used for the field test was mounted onto a platform while its engine and drive train were running, as a simulation of a scenario that will be relevant once the technology hits the field. The Athena Laser was able to burn through the vehicle's engine manifold in just a few seconds, despite the distance of the Athena of over a mile.
The demonstration, Lockheed Martin says, represents the highest power that has ever been documented by a laser weapon of its type.
According to Lockheed Martin CTO Keoki Jackson, fiber-optic laser technology is revolutionizing the directed energy systems of today, with Jackson adding that the company is making investments in all the system's components that includes the optics, the laser and the beam control. The investments aim to create further efficiencies in the power, weight and size of the technology.
Jackson also said that the successful test of the Athena laser will lead to the next step, which is the addition of lightweight but rugged laser technology weapons to military vehicles such as trucks, ships, helicopters and aircraft.
The demonstration is the first field test for the Athena laser, which uses a technique called spectral beam combining. The technique takes several fiber laser modules and combines them into a high-quality and more powerful beam for higher lethality and efficiency, as compared to the several but individual 10-kilowatt lasers that are present in other laser weapon systems.
Athena's development is based on the laser weapon system named ADAM, which stands for Area Defense Anti-Munitions, which Lockheed Martin created in California. The ADAM laser has also shown success in field tests, hitting sea-based and small airborne targets with precision. The technology utilizes the 30-kilowatt fiber laser system named Aladin, or Accelerated Laser Demonstration Initiative, that the company developed in Washington.
The advantages of using laser-based weapon systems are clear cut, due to their massive range, ability to attack targets on either land, sea or air, and their low cost for firing.
