The US laser weapons program went up in smoke

In January 2019, contractor Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to integrate high-energy laser weapons on the AC-130 aircraft.

After that, the US Air Force Special Operations Command announced it would test airborne lasers on the AC-130J Ghostrider fighter aircraft in 2023.

However, even though it has entered 2024, there have still not been any tests conducted in the air by Lockheed Martin.

The Pentagon's ambitious goal of producing the first operational airborne laser weapon system has gone up in smoke.

Plans to test a prototype Airborne High Energy Laser (AHEL) integrated on the AC-130J fighter aircraft have been canceled by the US Air Force.

"After completing significant end-to-end high-power operation in outdoor ground testing, the AHEL solid-state laser system encountered technical challenges.

These challenges have delayed integration onto the designated AC-130J Block 20 aircraft beyond the existing integration process and flight test window," War Zone quoted sources from the Operations Command Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) said.

An AFSOC spokesperson added in a statement: "As a result, the program has refocused on ground testing to improve operations and reliability to facilitate use by other agencies." labour".

The US military has been touting its plans to create the first operational airborne laser-guided weapon for years.

In 2019, Lockheed Martin won the Pentagon's five-year AHEL contract. The contract is divided into two phases: first creating a compact but powerful power source for the system, then integrating it into the main weapon of the AC-130J.

The idea is to come up with a laser weapon system that can be used in complex environments allowing operations against a variety of light to medium targets or attacks on energy facilities. opponent's force.

At the time of the contract signing, the US Air Force said the laser, integrated with a beam control system, would have a capacity of up to 60 kilowatts.

Lockheed completed factory acceptance testing and delivered AHEL to AFSOC in 2021. But then testing was delayed for many years due to technical factors.

At the time, it was acknowledged that integration and testing work would be carried out on the older Ghostrider Block 20 version, rather than the Block 30 variants.

An AFSOC official said this would cause a series of integration problems and AHEL would require quite a bit of additional and complex testing.

That's why the recently released Pentagon's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request did not mention any new funding for AHEL.

Furthermore, the ongoing assessment of current and future capabilities may result in the integration of laser weapons at the expense of eliminating the main cannon on the current AC-130.

According to the publication, the justification for this is that the C-130J could be required to contribute to future high-profile conflicts, such as a potential conflict in the Pacific.

For this purpose, fighter jets could be equipped with new electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, allowing the platform to detect, target, identify and engage a wide range of threats at further and react with greater precision and stability.

Previously, plans were mooted to equip the AC-130 with longer-range precision-guided munitions - something that could help ensure even more sustained operations of the Ghostriders, while, There is no evidence that laser weapons can do that.

Lesley Montoya

Update 03 April 2024