As of: March 20, 2024, 4:59 p.m
By: Christian Nemeth
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The US Air Force would like to increasingly equip its fighter pilots with laser weapons in the future.
However, technical limits became apparent in one project.
Washington, DC - Laser weapons are an important part of the US Army's modernization process: several branches of the armed forces are set to benefit from them.
However, after a considerable development phase, an air force project suffered a significant setback.
After years of planning and numerous tests, it is clear: the US AC-130J fighter jet will not receive laser weapons in the future.
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Dampener for the USA: No laser weapon for “Ghostrider” aircraft
As the relevant US online portal
The War Zone
reports, after years of delay, the US Air Force has abandoned plans for a flight test of an AC-130J “Ghostrider” fighter aircraft equipped with a laser weapon.
The aircraft was originally intended to be equipped with the Airborne High Energy Laser System (AEHL), a 60-watt laser with high light concentration and precision - at a relatively low cost per shot.
Because: As long as the carrier vehicle, writes the portal
futurezone.at
, has sufficient energy, the “ammunition” is available more or less unlimitedly.
Another advantage: In contrast to conventional weapons, laser weapons can also be used at short distances without endangering your own troops.
The damage to the target is caused by enormous heat, which causes the targeted material to evaporate.
Promising laser ground tests lead to insurmountable challenges
It was planned to equip the AC-130J fighter jets with laser weapons around ten years ago.
Recently there have also been promising tests on the ground, a spokesman for the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), one of ten main commands of the US Air Force, reported on
The War Zone.
The focus was on improving the operation and reliability of the weapon,
However, it encountered considerable “technical challenges”.
These initially delayed the integration of laser weapons into the “Ghostrider” – and ultimately even led to the project being completely abandoned, even though the first flight tests were announced for January of this year in November 2023.
Ultimately, however, this no longer happened.
Meanwhile, laser weapons are also becoming increasingly important in the Ukraine war.
(chnnn)