The AC-130U Spectre is a byword for high-precision fire support. But equipping it with directed energy weapons (DE) will take close air support to an entirely new level. The technological breakthrough needed to get there is a radical $22m superconducting generator which the Air Force will demonstrate by 2009 and which is specifically indended to fit on a C-130.
Instead of conventional copper wiring, the generator uses metal foil coated with superconducting material. This can carry very high currents with no loss, making it suitable for high-power uses. Maintaining superconductivity means staying at low temperature, requiring a liquid nitrogen cooling system.
Driven by a turbine, the new generator is about the size of a small beer keg, and is designed to generate five megawatts. Power sytems based on existing generators weigh over 20,000 lbs, the new system should cut that in half. It will also pave the way for further improvements and even smaller and more powerful generators.
The suggestion of a laser-armed F-35 has also been floated, but this is much less practical for attacking ground targets. A laser or other DE weapon can take several seconds of ‘dwell time’ to be effective, so what is needed is an aircraft which can keep a weapon aimed at the same point for an extended period — exactly what AC-130s do best.
DE weapons have a deep magazine, as they can keep firing for as long as the fuel supply lasts. Ivan Oelrich, director of strategic security programs for the Federation of American Scientists, estimates here that “To operate a thing like that requires a few tons of fuel per hour.“
To get the benefit of this sort of firepower you need an aircraft which is going to stay around over the battlefield rather than disappearing after a few passes. Again, the job is tailor-made for the AC-130, and there have been several proposals for weapons that the generator could drive:
– Electric lasers are already looking likely to supercede the primitive and toxic chemical oxygen iodine lasers like the one developed for the Airborne Laser and Avanced Tactical Laser. Last month Northrop Grumman unveiled Vesta, a 15 kW electric laser which can run for twenty minutes at a time. This is a major step towards achieving the Joint High Power Solid State Laser Program’s goal of a 100 kW solid state laser weapon in FY 2007. Such a weapon would have sniper-like accuracy, being able to pick out one person from a crowd or destroy pinpoint tagets like aerials or radar without collateral damage. The weapon could fire continuously extended periods, creating a significant morale effect, and the 5-Megawatt generator could power several beams at the same time.
– The Active Denial System, the Air Force’s non-lethal beam weapon which hurts without harming. A high-power version mounted in an AC-130 would have a variety of uses, providing for the first time a non-lethal means of dealing with distubances on the ground. I’ll be looking more closely at this one later in the week. More advanced non-lethal RF weapons may also be in the pipeline.
– A High Power Microwave Weapon (HPM), a directed-energy beam weapon equivalent of the “e-bomb” which destroys electronics at a distance. It would also be useful for knocking out command centres, air defense sites and other targets which depend on electronics — like television stations — without harming anyone. It would also be a formidable tool for interdictiction: an HPM-armed Spectre could flying down a hundred miles of road and knock out every single vehicle on it.
However, with this sort of weapon there is a big risk of ‘friendly fire’ accidents and this is likely to be a major issue.
The civilian suprconducting generator program ground to a halt earlier this year when GE dropped its $27 million generator program, a move which “leaves the superconducting generator concept squarely in the hands of the military,” according to Mark Bitterman, Executive Editor of Superconductor Week. This means Air Force’s superconducting generator program will take on new significance as the sole source of this technology. There is a growing demand for small, powerful and efficient generators and electric motors — and yet again the military are pioneering technology which will have much wider use.
– David Hambling
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Pimp My Gunship 2: Directed EnergyLeave a ReplyBy commenting on this topic you agree to the terms and conditions of our User Agreement |
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I’m afraid there’s some recycled-press-release techno-thusiasm here…
First, solid-state, or electronic (not electric — they’re called “electronic” because they take their power from electron transitions), lasers are not “looking likely to supercede the primitive and toxic chemical oxygen iodine lasers,” at least not anytime soon. Yes solid state is probably teh route of the future, but it has a long way to go. As you say, the solid-state laser folks are still trying to hit the 100 kW level, while a laser weapon which will justify the type of equipment described here (eg a dedicated aircraft) would have to be at least an order of magnitude more powerful (1MW+). To put it simply — if what you say were true, programs like ABL would be sitting around waiting for the supposedly around-the-corner breakthrough in electronic lasers, rather than paying enormous engineering costs to mess around with the horrendous logistics of COILs.
Second, you ignore completely the problem — discussed at some length in the AP article you cite — that even a light-weight generator still requires fuel to operate. Replacing a chemical laser with a generator-solid state laser tandem does not get rid of the fuel weight, it just trades in highly corrosive laser fuels for ordinary generator fuel — a significant improvement, but for an aircraft still an eneormous weight liability.
Finally, you say that a better generator is “the technological breakthrough needed to get to” the vision of a laser-armed gunship. That is just plain absurd. There are a whole bunch of other “breakthroughs” that would be needed, too, most of them far mroe challenging than building a fancier generator. For example, the one discussed above — getting solid-state lasers from about 27kW to multi-MW. But there are other problems at least as serious. Operating a laser weapon at any significant slant range low in the atmosphere will require some serious advances in adaptive optics (AO). Using it at ground level, in real conditions — humidity, smog, sandstorms, rain, you name it — will put an even greater strain on the ability to deliver energy efficiently. And for any of this to work, you still need to make significant improvements in the ability of your optics to handle the heat loads of a high-energy laser — a problem that ABL hasn’t been able to solve yet, for all its investment.
In short — if you’re going to write about directed energy weapons, read past the press releases.
And I almost forgot — the problem with microwave weapons is that they’ll experience the same shielding effects as other microwave systems, such as radar and cell phones. Sure, you’ll get better penetration at greater power, and presumably at frequencies optimized for penetration, but these things are still — stop me if this sounds familiar — going to be better for fighting the Red Army for control of the Rhine Valley than for taking out insurgents in an urban environment. Believe soem of the hype, but not all the hype.
Haninah,
DE weapons are already a reality (if not weapons-grade electric lasers). A sufficiently powerful and compact generator is the enabling technology to put one on an AC-130, and I therefore stand by my original claim.
Chemical vs electric lasers would be a topic for another posting. Suffice to say that, in this context, the electric laser looks a much more plausible armamement for a gunship. You do not need megawatts for this application — persistence is far more useful — and many of the problems plaguing ABL-class lasers do not apply.
Yes, I do believe that the chemical lasers should be shelved as they will clearly be overtaken by electric lasers in the near term. The chemical-laser ABL has already been demoted to a demonstrator and its continued funding is more a question of politics than practicality.
David.
I wonder if combining this generator with a small turbine, and a sub-100KW laser (assuming the 100KW is a long way off), may create a useful anti-SAM/AAM, self defense capability for the AC-130 instead of providing an attack capability. The same might apply to an F-35 version. Use the laser somewhat like a CIWS, where a lower power laser might still have enough power to stop the missles.
The same self-defense might be applicable to the HPM systems. 5MW is a lot of power to have available. Gotta believe you could take out SAMs with so much power to the HPM.
In other words, you’re going to be able to use this thing. It won’t go to waste.
Please remember that we have to be able to fight armies as well as insurgents. The rest of the world isn’t disarming. And if 100kw is good enough for the AF to use it against aircraft, it’s good enough to use against infantry and unarmored vehicles–200km range isn’t required, unlike for ABL tasks.
Also, note that if you combine a good electrically-powered laser with good sensors (such as ones already in production), you can shoot down inbound missiles. Fly above 10’K, and your AC-130 can be pretty much invulnerable to anything that doesn’t sneak up on it or overwhelm it with volley fire. That’s a big deal, and would allow gunships to go wherever they want, day or night.
Finally, note that gas is cheap, when it comes to a weapon with pinpoint accuracy and limited colleteral damage.
owned!
Is this yet another superconducting gyrotron, or is it the flux-pinning oscillator that AF has been working on?
On the laser, have you been following the plasmon/metamaterial developments? There are ways to emit collimated monochromatic light like a laser but you don’t have to maintain a population inversion to get it. That jacks the efficiency to unreasonable levels for an electric ‘laser’; I’m not sure you can really call it that since it’s not lasing, but the effect’s the same.
“Is this yet another superconducting gyrotron“
The ADS weapon is based on a gyrotron, the generator is a bit simpler
“On the laser, have you been following the plasmon/metamaterial developments? “
Yes.
I did a piece on the invisibility angle earlier this year, and watch out for something on the exotic ‘laser’ fron next year.
Very interesting, but is anybody working on something to detect and destroy IED’s and other land mines which seem to be the weapons of choice for guerilla warfare.…something we will undoubtedly see as a consistently used weapon
Yes, disrupting IEDs is one of the applications for HPM specifically mentioned in the piece I link to on the generator.
where does the flux capaciator go?
Man I thought you ment gunships as in pimp my super cobra or apache.When I saw pimp my C-130 spectre I realised I had been suckered into another cheap story to sell adds for internet colledge.Pimping a C-130 is like pimping my Bus that I rode in grade school.Or how about pimp the tow truck.They serve a valuable purpose but you never grow up wanting to fly a C-130 in the Air Force.It’s a stable air platform for airborne artillery.O.K.
Pimp your school bus my ass. Try kicking flares from a C-130 at night over South Viet Nam for an hour and half and being the only primary target. If you want a ride forget the Cobra or Apache. I have tried all of them.
Top
Hello out there, it seems like with so many eyes in the sky that there is very little snooop and poop on the people placing these boobie traps and land mines. They are obvious, that is, when you see someone covering something up with rocks, or burying something in the street,drop a few mortor rounds on top of it and be done with it. All we hear about here is how many eyes and variations of spywear we have and infrared and night vision; it would seem that somebody by now has figured out how to interpret what they are seeing. Give me a rundown on how much money is being apparently wasted. Thank you, USMC, Vietnam era. Class of 64 and 68–69.
I think they have been watching waaaaaayyyyy toooo much Real Genius with this idea. So are they going to use frozen bromyde for the lasing agent
To the Jet Jocky in REFERENCE to Nobody Goes into the AirFarce wanting to fly a Spectre Gunship-MAYBE not but that Bird and Her Crews PULLED more GRUNTs asses out of Harms way than the Fast Movers whom were in/out and Usualy Missed more than they hit-PEREHAPS you should TRY flying one and SEE how much YOU really are APPRECIATED when you Light up the night-173 Abn Class of 70–71-my Berets off to those guys in the Spectre/Puff Gunships!!!
I thought we were in the “jet age”. This gizmo would be perfect for the AC-17. Faster, higher, longer range, larger payload and much more comfortable.
you shouldnt be makeing stuff like this because once you do the enemy will find a way to make thier own so basically we are making a weapon to destroy our selves
nathanael,
i admire your idealism. It has been transparent SINCE roger bannister “impossibly” ran the first four-minute mile and was subsequently copied many times in short succession THAT once an event or technology has been imagineered into reality it will soon be imitated.
Be that as it may be a natural law, SINCE the Hydrogen Fusion Bomb flamed into brilliance over Eniwetok Atoll we have had the weapon to exterminate ourselves.
Examine the arguments of Neils Bohr. He desperately argued to Prez Roosevelt and Prime Churchill THAT Uranium is widely available and impossible to COMPLETELY contain, therefore uncontainable; and therefore dialogue for MUTUAL ADVANTAGE must occur or an arms race is inevitable. This was 1944.
Sixty years, two generations later, events have proven his genius once again (how could they have doubted his brain?). The inevitable arms race is now continuing full speed ahead and dialogue is rapidly becoming impossible. Missle-antimissile-antiantimissile et cetera. Kill Christians! rhetoric tends to dampen discussion of common ground, even among the very few open-minded yet not blind-sighted.
Please excuse the length, and thanx for following it. My take is that we are on a slippery slope leading to a glass desert, and GOD save the innocent’s souls…
Marc Viens
Is this the system that been opening all the garage door in Denver? LMFAO x 10^infinate power.
Here’s my idea. Form up a special squadron of modified aerial sprayers (crop dusters) to lay down pig blood on convoy routes and suspected insurgent strong holds.
Muslims are deathly afraid of coming in contact with swines — alive or body parts, blood and actually believe that if they do, they will go to hell and of course, miss out on the 77 virgins deal.
Also, our troops should start dipping their ammo in the blood.
I would also advocate the use of special ace of spades cards that depict Mohammed sodomizing Porky Pig on them and place them in the mouths or anuses of dead insurgents for psychological effect.
I could use some support on this as the last time I suggested this to Rummie, he didn’t even have the courtesy to respond to me.
Thanks,
Jim Oss
WaKeeney, Kansas
zut1281@yahoo.com
Marc Viens is right. For more than a hundred years anthropologists have been looking for the Rubicon that humans crossed in the course of their evolution that made them superior to the beasts. Of the many proposed Rubicons — upright posture, opposable thumbs, language — the most consistently touted has been the enormous growth of our cerebral cortex — the “grey matter” that makes up the outer part of our brains. (Not that there aren’t reptilian structures lurking underneath.)
And where has our super brain brought us?
We can now kill just about every living thing on the planet. Several times we’ve managed to pull back from the brink because we, and the other side, had too much to lose.
I wonder if we can always depend on that’s being the case. What if you have a nuke and nothing to lose but a goat?
So what do we do when the enemy develops a big reflector to direct the energy back at us? We may be inventing weapons to shoot ourselves down.
Reflectors would also have to deal with different types of radiation. They would have to be at proper angle and be able to move as the plane moved. Thus, this type of weapon might be rather difficult to stop. More than that the reflector might make a RADAR station or Television antenna unusable as a Radar station or Antennae.
OMG!!! Make sure you dont shoot troops on bicycles! The reflectors might destroy a city block!NOOOOO!
As far as reflection goes, another factor to consider is that when a laser (keep in mind, not all DE weapons are laser based) hits a reflective surface a portion of its energy is reflected at a specific angle (based on incoming trajectory and the angle of the reflector), a portion of the energy is reflected randomly, a portion is usualy lost as it passes through a stabalizing medium (usualy transparent glass or plastic) on the surface of the reflector, and a portion is tranformed into heat on the reflector itself.
With most high power lasers the heat taken by the reflector itself will slowly burn or warp the reflector beyond usability and the beam that is reflected before then rarely maintains more than half of the original beams heating power.
These are things I recall learning in my highschool physics class. I think the military is way ahead on the subject.
But I do wonder, why has there been no mention of the sonic DE weapons being used in Iraq right now? I would think these would be excelent for these gunships, or for helicoptors.
These were even talked about on both the Military Channel and on the History Channel.
Is this a practical weapon? Can it be pin point
or will there be a lot of collateral damage?
Whats wrong with the old faithful Spectre? If its not broke,Dont fix it…
u cant play it (cring)
u cant play it (cring)
Were directed energy weapons used on 9/11? Check out drjudywood.com for the evidence and court cases in the US District Court, Southern New York with Attorney Jerry Leaphart.
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