High-energy laser weapon tested at White Sands Missile Range by industry team
NewsMay 16, 2022
LAS CRUCES, N.M. A team led by Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) and KBR subsidiary Kord recently held four weeks of continuous live-fire exercises at White Sands Missile Range as part of operational assessments of the 50 kW-class high-energy laser weapon.
As part of the test, the directed-energy weapon system -- part of the U.S. Army's Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) -- acquired, tracked, targeted, and defeated multiple mortars and successfully completed a number of tests simulating real-world scenarios. The DE M-SHORAD system, which was mounted on a Stryker combat vehicle -- also defeated several unmanned aerial systems (UASs) of varying sizes.
The DE M-SHORAD system is intended to protect troops against various aerial threats, including UASs, rotary-wing aircraft, rockets, artillery and mortars. Kord serves as the primary integrator of the DE M-SHORAD system on the Stryker combat vehicle, while RI&S brings to the project the 50 kW-class high-energy laser weapon module, a specialized radar-acquisition system, a beam control system, and targeting sensor.
