Image source: topwar.ru
The U.S. Army's Office of Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies has spent years developing lasers for various weapons systems. And now the US Army is holding a competition to develop a short-range laser air defense system.
This was stated in an interview for the American magazine Defense News at a symposium on space and missile defense by the head of the department, Lieutenant General J. Robert Rush.
The US Army plans to select several companies from a large list of applicants to participate in the development of a high-energy laser system (HEL) for short-range air defense. This will happen in early 2025. The only winner in the competition is going to be chosen in early 2026.
Rush said that some of the applicants are working on the task independently, while others cooperate with each other.
This work is not being done from scratch. Earlier it was reported that the department has already sent four prototypes of SHORAD Stryker combat vehicles with laser installations from Raytheon to the area of operations of the US Central Command (probably to the Middle East) to assess how well the 50-kilowatt laser is able to eliminate aerial threats at short range.
Image source: topwar.ru
Information about the testing of this system, which took place at the Yuma landfill in Arizona, had previously been received in the spring of last year. Then the laser managed to shoot down several drones, but difficulties arose with the interception of artillery shells and missiles.
